Earth1939
by solojones
Summary: What do you get when you mix Han, Leia, and Luke with New Jersey and Indy? Or better yet, with time travel and the GFFA? An OTPTIndy crossover to end all crossovers...and the sequel to Earth1937- UPDATED 9-26-03! Chapter 19, epilogue, and Making Of
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. He and Steven Spielberg own Indiana Jones. But I own Earth, so don't even THINK about steeling it! No way.  
  
solojones@hotmail.com  
  
Earth1939 by Solo Jones  
  
  
  
Han Solo sat reclined in a large, plush couch in his living room. He wasn't really doing anything, didn't have anything planned to do, and wasn't really sure what time it was at all. And he loved it. He had resigned his general-ship with the New Republic two months ago. Now, here he was, able to relax and not have to worry about going to meetings or any of the other monotonous and stressful things that came with being a leader in a fledgling government.  
  
The door to the apartment slid open, and Han looked up to see Leia entering. She looked tired and haggard. She was dressed in a dirt-smudged tan tank-top and matching cargo shorts. She quickly shed her clunky boots and plopped down on the couch.  
  
Han stood and went over to her. "What, don't I even get a 'hello'?" he asked.  
  
Leia looked up at him with an exhausted look on her face. Unlike her husband, Leia had not been able to rest easy over the past three weeks since they had gotten back from their honeymoon. Almost as soon as they had gotten planet-side, there were things for her to do. Mon Mothma, Rieekan, and Ackbar- everybody had something for her to do. And on top of all that, Luke had insisted that she start her Jedi training as soon as possible. That was where so had just been; running through the woods of a nearby moon with Luke to build up her stamina.  
  
Han felt truly sorry for his wife. He kneeled down in front of the couch where she was lying. He took her hand in his, and kissed it. "You know what you need?" he asked her. "You need a vacation."  
  
"Han we just got back from a vacation three weeks ago," she said. "I doubt Mon Mothma would let me go on another one right now. Plus," she added, "Luke really wants me to keep up my training. He's been very patient with me, and I don't want to let him down now."  
  
"So bring him with us," Han said. "He could probably use a break, too."  
  
Leia considered it for a moment. She really could use a vacation right about now. Plus, she knew Luke would really appreciate a break.  
  
Han gave her his most disarming lopsided grin. "What do you say, sweetheart?"  
  
She smiled, and attempted a sigh. "Oh if you insist," she said. "But we're not going to Endor. We were just there. And I'm tired of resort towns. We need to go someplace.... Different."  
  
Han thought about it for a moment. Where could they go that would be unique? A sly grin spread across his face.  
  
Leia gave him a suspicious look. "What?" she asked warily. Han pulled her to her feet, and started dragging her toward the door. "Han! Where in the galaxy are we going?" she asked.  
  
"Nowhere," he replied. "We're not going anywhere in this galaxy."  
  
********************************************************************************************  
  
  
  



	2. Travel

*****************************************************************  
  
When the Millennium Falcon came out of hyperspace 12 hours after it had begun its journey, Luke still had no idea where they were going. "Come on Han, tell me where we are going," he asked his brother-in-law.  
  
Han shook his head. "It's a surprise," he said.  
  
"For some reason, that makes me feel even worse about it," Luke said.  
  
Ha grinned, "Relax kid. You're gonna love it, I promise. Dontcha trust me?"  
  
Luke raised an eyebrow at Han skeptically. He looked over to Leia, who wouldn't say anything, although Luke was pretty sure she knew where they were going too. "Will you give me a hint?" he asked.  
  
"You've never been there before," Han said.  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. "Well that narrows it down. There are millions of places in the galaxy I haven't been," he sighed. He squinted as he looked out the window. Something was not right with the area of space before him. There were dark blotches marring the star-speckled pattern. As the Falcon got closer, Luke could tell that the spots were actually blackholes. He inhaled sharply. "Isn't this the Kessel Run?" he asked. He had heard plenty of spacer's stories about the Kessel Run, and he knew this must be it.   
  
"Yeah, this is the Kessel Run," Han said.  
  
"And this is where we are taking our vacation?" Luke asked, sounding not at all excited. When Han said nothing, Luke turned to Leia. "Well?" he asked her.  
  
"Not exactly," she answered shortly. Luke was now totally puzzled. Not exactly? What kind of an answer is that?  
  
Han glanced down at the navicomputer. The blackhole he was looking for was deep into the run. With its position in mind, he started piloting a course toward it.  
  
While Luke was awed by Han's piloting skills and the scenery around them, he was still confused about what exactly they were doing out here.  
  
Han stopped the Falcon before one of the blackholes that was very close to the asteroid field half of the Kessel Run.  
  
"Han, why are we stopping?" Luke asked. He noticed that the ship was starting to get caught in the blackhole's pull. "Uh, Han. We're going to get sucked into that blackhole if we aren't careful."  
  
Han and Leia exchanged a smile. "Yep," Han said. "Buckle your seatbelt, Junior."  
  
Luke could not believe what he was hearing. Were they actually going into the blackhole on purpose? Han and Leia were both buckling their belts, so Luke followed suit.  
  
"Hang on," Han said as the ship began to accelerate toward the dark mass.   
  
Suddenly, the Falcon was hurtling through a wormhole at thousands of times the speed of light. The stars, planets, and other celestial bodies that they passed all melted together to form a constant blur of colors and light going by. Luke, Han, and Leia were all shielding their eyes from the blinding light flashing at them through the cockpit.   
  
The Millennium Falcon was finally shot back out into normal space at a breakneck velocity. Han had the presence of mind to initiate the breaking systems and carefully slow down his ship.   
  
Luke was finally able to find his voice. "Flamin' stars Han, have you lost your mind?" Luke shouted the unfamiliar expression. "Where are we?"  
  
Han and Leia were both smiling ear to ear. Luke looked out the viewport to see a large white and blue marbled planet below him.  
  
Han turned to Luke and grinned. "Welcome to Earth."  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Arrival

******************************************************************   
  
The city of Cairo was bustling, as usual. The streets were crowded wall to wall with people shouting at passersby and waving cheap jewelry and clothing at them. It was through this crowd that Han, Luke, and Leia were carefully weaving.   
  
The last time he and Leia had been here, Han had never actually been in the city. Now he was glad he hadn't. This place was like a cross between the chaos of Courscant, and the climate of Tatooine. Basically, it was miserable.   
  
"We gotta find someone who speaks English," Han said.   
  
"Do you think we will? I haven't heard anyone speaking it so far," Leia replied.   
  
"Well we have to try! We've gotta know what year it is," Han said.   
  
Luke was utterly confused. He had tried continuously to get Han and Leia to tell him what the heck was going on. He still had no idea. Han had just landed the Falcon out in a desert, and ordered everyone to change into the clothes he provided. At least that part was a good idea; since Luke now saw they would have been very out of place here in their normal clothing. These seemed to be a terrestrial people.   
  
Han tapped one of the shouting vendors on the shoulder, and the man turned around. "Excuse me, but do you speak English?" he asked the man. The man paused for a moment, then started waving strings of beads in Han's face and talking in an unknown language. "No no, I don't want one. Uh, thanks," He said, moving away.   
  
"Let me try," Leia said. She scanned the nearby people carefully. Most of them had dark skin and hair, and she assumed, were the locals. She spotted one man across the street with fair skin and light brown hair. "There!" She said, guiding the group across toward the man. "Excuse me, sir. Sir!" She shouted out to the stranger.   
  
"Leia, wait! Would someone PLEASE tell me what's going on!" Luke groaned   
  
Leia held up a 'in a minute' finger. The man she had been trying to talk to noticed her and turned around. "May I help you?" He asked, in an accent much like Indy's only with a refined crispness to the words.   
  
Leia smiled at the man. "Yes, you can. I was wondering," she hesitated before asking, "What year is it?"   
  
The man gave raised an eyebrow. "Surely you can't be serious," he said, laughing. "What a peculiar question to ask!"   
  
Leia licked her lips, trying not to get impatient with the man. "I know it seems silly of me but, um," she searched for an excuse, "but I had a bet going with my husband that if I asked a stranger on the street to tell me the year, I couldn't get him to do it because he would think I was mad." She indicated Han behind her, who played along.   
  
"Ah see, I told you you'd never get anyone to do it," Han said.   
  
The stranger smiled. "The year is, of course 1939," he said. And to Leia, "And I do not think you are mad. But if you'll excuse me, I've got a plane to London to catch." He nodded at them, and took off down the street.   
  
  
"Whew, that was a good save," Han said.   
  
"Tell me about it," Leia replied. "I thought he was going to make a big scene there and get us thrown into an asylum or something."   
  
"So, it's been 2 years on Earth since we were here," Han surmised.   
  
"Great arithmetic," Leia commented.   
  
Han gave her a sour look. "But it's been 4 years to us. That's not fair, that means Indy's only aged 2 years to my 4!"   
  
Leia smiled at him. "Oh you'd never be able to tell. Now quit complaining, we've got to get outside the city before dark." Han nodded his agreement, and the group started heading off toward a hill on the outskirts of Cairo.   
  
Luke had decided to give up asking questions for now, and just let Han and Leia do the leading until they were in someplace more... stable. He just hopped they really hadn't gone mad.   
  
Han and Leia stopped on the top of a hill in front of a low-roofed clay and wooden house. "Think he still lives here?" Leia asked Han.   
  
"I hope so. Or this is gonna be one short vacation," Han replied. He took a deep breath, and rapped his knuckles on the wooden door.   
  
They could hear the sounds of children talking inside, and several pairs of little feet running toward the door to see who it was. Then a heavier, adult sounding pair of footsteps joined in and began approaching. The doorknob turned, and slowly creaked open.   
  
******************************************************************


	4. Explained

********************************************************************************   
  
The door creaked open to reveal a stout man with dark hair and an equally dark curly beard, clothed in a dusty white robe. He looked at the visitors at first in confusion, and then his eyes lit with recognition and his jaw loosened. "By all the Pharos," he whispered. "Han Solo my friend!" He smiled and enveloped Han in a bear hug.   
  
The two men parted, and Han gave a lopsided grin. "Hey Sallah," he said.   
  
Sallah turned his attention to Leia. "Leia Organa!" He exclaimed.   
  
Leia smiled, "That's Leia Organa Solo now."   
  
Sallah grinned even wider with this revelation. He laughed, and enveloped them both in a hug. Then he chuckled and pulled away. "I am so happy for you, my friends! Come in, come in!" The group entered Sallah's home.   
  
Luke was utterly baffled by the whole display, but he decided to follow along with it. He trailed behind Han, Leia, and Sallah into a small front room. Sallah just then noticed him. "Who is this with you?" Sallah asked, upon seeing Luke.   
  
"Oh, sorry," Han said with a sheepish grin. "Sallah, this is Luke Skywalker. Leia's twin brother and my best friend."   
  
Luke and Sallah shook hands. "A pleasure to meet you, Luke." Luke nodded and smiled.   
  
"Nice to meet you too," Luke said. "Uh... could someone please explain what's going on?"   
  
Han and Leia looked at each other. Sallah looked at them. Han cleared his throat. "Uh, well," Han began. "Maybe you should sit down."   
  
********************************************************************************   
  
About half an hour later, the group was all sitting in Sallah's living room, and Sallah's wife had gotten them all some water to drink. "All right guys," Luke said. "Could you please explain what's going on?"   
  
Leia decided it might be best if she explained it. "Luke, you that trip Han and I took a couple months after Endor?"   
  
"Right, and you never told anyone where you'd gone." Luke said.   
  
"Right," Leia said. "Well, we had planned on going on the Kessel Run. And we started to, but that's when we got trapped in the gravity well of a black hole. We tried to get out of it, but we couldn't."   
  
"The same black hole we came through?" Luke asked.   
  
"Yes. Well, we crash landed on this planet, and Sallah was the one to find us," Leia continued.   
  
"What planet is this?" Luke asked.   
  
"It's called Earth," Han said. "And it's not in our galaxy. It's not even on our timeline. We never got it completely figured out, but we think that we're in the future. But it's way behind us technology wise. They barely have air travel, and they don't even have repulsorlifts." Luke's eyebrows raised in fascination. "And the Falcon's repulsorlifts were shot. So we were faced with um, a slight problem obviously."   
  
"How did you ever get the Falcon back into space again?" Luke inquired.   
  
Han and Leia exchanged a glance. Leia answered, "We 'borrowed' a large aircraft from Germany. Germany is somewhat like the Empire here on Earth."   
  
Luke was starting to get an idea of what was going on. "So how did you manage to do that?"   
  
"We had a little help from one of Sallah's friends," Han said.   
  
"Who was that?" Luke asked.   
  
"Indiana Jones," Han answered. He turned to Sallah, "We were wondering if we could see Indy again."   
  
Sallah nodded slowly. "Yes, yes you can see him," he said. "But Indy is not near here. He's in New Jersey. That's in America. Across the ocean. You can get there..." he trailed off.   
  
Leia understood. "By plane," she finished slowly. Sallah nodded. She looked at Han, and both of them sat back and sighed.   
  
Luke looked at both of them, and at Sallah. He wasn't sure what a 'plane' was, but judging from Han and Leia's reactions, it was not something pleasant. He swallowed. "Why do I get a bad feeling about this?"   
  
******************************************************************************** 


	5. New Jersey

********************************************************************************  
  
Luke gripped the arms of his chair tightly. Beads of sweat were forming on his   
forehead. The 'plane' shook slightly. After an all-night ride on the plane, Luke   
was starting to realize why Han and Leia were so reluctant to use this particular   
mode of transportation. As if flying in it were not enough terror, now they were   
going to land. "Are you sure this thing won't crash?" Luke asked Han nervously.  
  
Han tried to smile reassuringly, but he was experiencing some of the same fears   
that Luke was. "Uh, not entirely sure, no," he said.   
  
Luke shot him a cold stare. "Why couldn't we have taken the Falcon?" he   
whispered.   
  
"Hey, believe me, I wish we could!" Han said. "But according to Sallah, this New   
Jersey place is a lot more crowded than Cairo. I don't think it would go   
unnoticed."  
  
Leia looked out the window, and saw the ground quickly rushing up at the plane.   
The landscape was flying by, in a dizzying blur. She groaned, "Oh, I hope we   
land soon... I think I'm going to be sick."  
  
"Again?" Han said.  
  
"Shut up, Han!" Leia shouted. They all braced for the landing. Suddenly, the   
rickety plane hit the ground with a loud shudder. It began to slow down, and they   
relaxed a bit.   
  
As the plane taxied to its designated spot, Han rubbed his ears. "You'd think they   
would know something about air pressure," he complained. Luke rubbed his   
ears, too, and nodded in agreement.  
  
After a few minutes, the plane had come to a standstill and some steps had been   
wheeled up next to it. A stewardess came to the front of the plane. "May I have   
your attention, please," she said. The cabin quieted down. "Thank you. Welcome   
to the Lakehurst, New Jersey Airport, and welcome to the United States. If you   
will make your way down the stairs, your baggage is awaiting you on the airfield.   
Before you leave, you must be cleared by the customs officer. Thank you," she   
finished. The passengers all started filing out.  
  
The spacers gathered their bags and made it through customs with no incident.   
They walked into the indoors portion of the airport, which was less busy than   
Cairo's. Luke dragged his bag down the hall, thinking of how ridiculous it was that   
this planet didn't even have repulsor sleds to tote the cumbersome baggage on.   
  
"Sallah said that we could find a 'cab' here to take us to Princeton, where Indy   
lives. I'm not sure how far-" Leia stopped midsentence, and dropped her bag in   
shock. She was staring at a plaque on the airport wall. Han looked to see what   
she was staring at, and he too dropped his bag.  
  
"Oh my...my...." Leia couldn't think of any expression that would express her   
sudden disbelief. Han shared the same amazed silence.   
  
Luke looked to see what had Han and Leia so shocked. There was a bronze   
plaque on the wall, with some strange writing he couldn't read. Next to it was a   
two-dimensional black and white photo of some sort of large aircraft, bursting into   
flames over the airfield just outside the window. "Oh, that makes me feel safe,"   
Luke commented.   
  
Leia whispered, "Han... is that what I think it is?"  
  
Han shook his head slowly. "Yeah," he said slowly, "it's the Hindenburg." The   
couple just stared at the photograph.  
  
"What... I mean, how..." Leia was at a loss for words.   
  
Han shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I have a feeling we'll find out soon   
enough." The two of them picked up their bags, and walked outside, with Luke   
following. Leia got the attention of one of the cabs, and they began to load their   
things into the trunk.   
  
"How far to Princeton?" Leia asked.   
  
"Eight miles," the cab driver replied. "It won't take long."  
  
"Han," Luke said as they climbed into the back of the clunky black car, "what's a   
Hindenburg?"   
  
The cab driver shot Luke a confused look. "He's just kidding," Han said quickly.   
Then in a whisper to Luke, "I'll fill you in later, kid." Luke nodded.   
  
After driving for a few minutes, the driver asked, "Where exactly in Princeton do   
you need to go?"  
  
Leia spoke up, "To the house of Indiana Jones."   
  
The driver gave her a strange look, "Indiana Jones? How's that for a name! Well,   
I'm sure someone here knows who he is. Excuse me!" he yelled out the window   
at a young man, probably in his twenties. "Could you tell me where Indiana Jones   
lives?"   
  
The young man's brow furrowed in confusion. Then he realized who the cabby   
was talking about. "Oh, you mean Professor Jones? Sure! Everyone knows him!   
He teaches here at the University," the student beamed. "Just take the first right   
on this street, and his house is the third on the left."  
  
"Thank you!" the cabby said with a nod.   
  
"No problem!" the young man yelled back.   
  
The cabby pulled up in front of the house. Han and Luke unloaded the baggage,   
while Leia paid him with the money Sallah had given them. "Have a nice stay,"   
the cabby said, with a tip of his hat. Then he got in his car and drove away.   
  
Luke looked at Leia apprehensively. "So this is your friend's house?" he asked.  
  
"Uh, we hope so," Han said, knocking on the door. There was a sound of distinct   
footsteps, and a man's shadow, 6 feet and one inch tall, appeared in the door.   
"Oh, and Luke," Han said, quickly remembering, "There's something we forgot to   
mention...." But Han never got to tell him. The door opened up, and standing in   
front of them was the man who, but for his short hair, looked just like Han Solo,   
down to the scar on his chin. Luke had never been more baffled in his entire life.   
His jaw hung open, and his eyes were wide. "Luke..... meet Indiana Jones."  
  
************************************************************************************* 


	6. Indy

Luke was paralyzed, completely unable to speak. He looked from Indy to Han and back to Indy. Everyone stood in silence for a while.  
  
Indy, who was dressed in his red bathrobe, glanced at Luke with a puzzled look, and then looked behind him to Han and Leia. Recognition lit up his face, and he smiled exuberantly. "Han! Leia!" He shook both their hands vigorously. "I honestly thought I'd never see you again! It's been what, two years?"  
  
"Four for us," Leia corrected. Han gave her a death glare.  
  
A crooked grin spread across Indy's face. "Ah so Han's practically an old man by now."  
  
Han scowled. "Jones, I swear." he grumbled. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then they both grinned crookedly and laughed.  
  
"Excuse me!" Luke shouted. Everyone grew silent and looked at him. Seeing he had their attention, he continued. "I don't know where we are, or who this is, or why he looks exactly like Han, and I'm getting a little nervous here!"  
  
"You didn't tell him anything?" Indy said.  
  
"We told him," Han said in defense. Then he added, "Well, we sort of told him."  
  
Indy chuckled. "Well, why don't you guys all come in and sit down. I'll just go change, and then we can all have some coffee and talk this over."  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
A few minutes later, the trio was sitting around Indy's kitchen table in his cluttered house, with mugs of coffee. Everyone but Luke was drinking theirs.  
  
"So," Indy began, looking at Luke. "We haven't been formally introduced yet."  
  
"I'm Luke Skywalker," Luke said, cautiously offering his hand to the eerie stranger.  
  
Shaking his hand, Indy replied, "I'm Indiana Jones, and my friends call me Indy. How do you know Han and Leia, exactly?"  
  
"Leia is my twin sister, and Han's my friend, and of course my brother-in-law," Luke replied.  
  
Indy's eyes lit up. "Brother-in-law?" He said.  
  
Leia smiled. "That's right; we weren't married the last time we were here! I remember now." She sipped her coffee. "Yes, we're married now, but haven't been for very long yet."  
  
"So," Luke interrupted. "Is this some sort of alternate universe? A cloning operation? Some kind of a virtual world? I noticed that I can't use the Force."  
  
"No, it's nothing like that," Han said. "It's a real world, in a real galaxy."  
  
"Our running into Indy, and his resemblance to Han, is purely coincidental," Leia said. "He's a friend of Sallah's. Believe us, it was a shock to Sallah to see Han for the first time."  
  
"And for us to see each other," Indy added.  
  
Han added. "Sallah had thought I was Indy, and he cut my hair. No one is doing that again."  
  
"So," Luke said, the pieces starting to fall together. "You met up, and then you went to Germany to 'borrow' and aircraft to help get the Falcon off the ground, and to get back home?"  
  
"That's right," Leia said. "Indy helped us. He knows a lot about Germany."  
  
"Not by choice," Indy added. "I've had more run-ins with them since you were here." He said, as he thought back on the ordeal with the Holy Grail that had ended not so long ago.  
  
Suddenly, Han remembered the picture he had seen at the airport. "Hey, that reminds me. We saw a picture in the airport at Lakehurst. It looked an awful lot like the Hindenburg."  
  
"Oh, yeah!" Indy said. "That was horrible. You know the trip they were getting ready for when you were here? Well, right before they landed, the Hindenburg exploded. The whole thing just went up in one big fireball. It was a horrible tragedy."  
  
"The Hindenburg is the aircraft that we used to help get the Falcon going," Leia clarified to Luke, who nodded silently.  
  
"Do they know how it happened?" Han asked.  
  
Indy hesitated. "Well, there are a lot of theories. And no one is really sure. It could have been an accident."  
  
"But they suspect it wasn't?" Leia finished.  
  
"Yeah. They think it might have been a bomb set by a crewmember." Indy answered. "The man they suspect is Erich Spehl, the young man who helped us get inside the Nazi compound. He was one of the people killed in the crash."  
  
There was a pause, and the only sound was Luke softly sipping his coffee and the clock on the wall ticking.  
  
"Well," Han finally said to break end the uncomfortable moment. "That's in the past now."  
  
"Yeah, it is," Indy agreed. He shifted in his seat. "So, what brings you back here?"  
  
Leia shrugged. "We wanted a vacation, and this seemed like the best place to come."  
  
Indy laughed. "I'm not sure about that. It's not exactly exciting around here." He paused, then added, "Well, unless you're with me, of course. But that's not exactly safe." He sipped his coffee, then an idea struck him. "Hey," he said, "would it be possible for me to come back with you guys for a while? A vacation in space would be something. well, not exactly to you, I guess, but for me."  
  
"I think it would be great," Han said quickly. He could just imagine the shock on the faces of Lando and Mon Mothma and others when seeing Han and Indy next to each other.  
  
"Now wait, Han," Luke cautioned. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea."  
  
"Well, hey, what could go wrong?" Han said. "It worked out just fine for us to be here. Why not the other way around? Don't you trust me?"  
  
"Not exactly," Luke replied with a grin.  
  
"We don't have to do that," Indy said. "It was just a suggestion. We can find someplace here to visit."  
  
"No way, Indy," Han insisted, "This would be a huge opportunity for you. You'd get to see space, and an advanced society."  
  
"And you'd get to have fun shocking people," Leia said.  
  
"Well, there's always that," Han said with a smirk.  
  
Luke looked to Indy, who obviously wanted to go very badly, but was trying to be polite and pragmatic. He thought on the subject for a while. On one hand, things had been ok on the previous trips to and from Earth, from what he knew. But on the other hand, the universe was a strange place, and black holes were very mysterious in their workings. He chewed his lip slightly as he thought about it. He wished he could have used the Force to clear his mind and chose the best path, but it was curiously absent on this strange planet. Finally, he made his decision. "I say we go."  
  
Leia, baffled, looked at her twin. "Are you sure it's a good idea?" She usually followed Luke's advice. He was a Jedi Master, and her teacher. But she wasn't so sure about this decision. "I mean, it would be fun."  
  
"Yeah," Han said. "So, what's the problem?"  
  
Leia was silent for a moment as she considered the problem. Then, she through her caution to the wind, and made her decision. "Well, why not?" she said.  
  
Indy and Han looked at each other, and broke into identical lopsided grins. "Spectacular," Han said. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get Indy packed!" 


	7. Change of Plans

After their time spent traveling by plane and car, the spacers were more than happy to see the Millennium Falcon waiting for them in the Egyptian desert.  
  
"She's never looked better," Han said with a smile.  
  
"Which is pretty sad," Luke jested, earning a half-serious glare from his brother-in-law.  
  
"Still amazes me," Indy said as he took off his fedora and wiped the sweat from his forehead.  
  
"There, you see," Han said. "At least someone has some sense."  
  
Leia sighed and casually entered the ship, calling over her shoulder, "If any of you men decide you'd like to stop talking shop and start traveling, I'll be inside where it's cool." This prompted the three men to follow her into the Falcon. Their eyes adjusted, with pleasure, to the soft lighting.  
  
Happy to be out of the bright sun and the heat, Indy plopped down onto the cushioned seat, as the others headed for the cockpit. There was a rumbling sound which seemed terribly loud to him and he tensed.  
  
Han poked his head around the corner. "You gonna strap yourself in back here, or you wanna come up to the cockpit?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, I was just coming," Indy said with a fair amount of false bravado. He willed himself out of the seat and quickly followed Han to the front of the ship, where he strapped himself into one of the back two seats. Luke was in the co-pilot's seat, flicking switches which started the repulsor-lifts. Han slid casually into the pilot's seat and eased a lever- and they were off.  
  
Indy had briefly been in space on the Falcon before, but it was never quite like this. The earth sank away at an alarming pace once the ship had lifted from the ground, creating a somewhat dizzying effect. In a matter of minutes, they were in the pitch-black calm of space. And Indy was gripping his chair.  
  
Han looked back with a smirk on his face. "What's the matter, Jones," he taunted, "Suddenly developing a fear of flying?"  
  
"It's just a little overwhelming," Indy replied.  
  
"Ah, you get used to it. Now, let's find our secret passageway." He quickly scanned through several menus on the navicomputer and found the one he was looking for. After glancing over the information briefly, he piloted the craft toward the destination.  
  
"There it is," Leia said somewhat apprehensively as the dark well became quite visible in front of them. Indy sucked in his breath slowly but deeply. Han grinned like a kid in amusement.  
  
Luke had forgotten most of his trepidation about the dangers of this kind of travel. Right now, he longed only to be out of this strange Force- shadowed galaxy and back in his familiar surroundings where he could feel what was going on around him. "Let's just go," he said.  
  
Throwing him a sideways glance, Han nodded. "Make sure you're buckled in," he warned. Indy's safety belt was already tight, but he decided a few more notches couldn't hurt. As the spaceship began to hurtle toward the black hole faster and faster, he closed his eyes and waited for whatever mysterious universe waited on the other side.  
  
*******************************************  
  
The Falcon rocketed out into space at breakneck speed. Han had finally gauged how to slow the ship easily without causing everyone aboard whiplash. He prepared for the asteroid field he knew would be right in front of them when they exited.  
  
But there was nothing. No asteroids, no other black holes, no Kessel Run. Only a blanket of star speckled space stretching out in all directions. Han looked nervously to Luke, who had his eyes closed and was breathing deeply. "Um, kid," he said softly.  
  
Luke slowly opened his eyes, breaking himself from reveling in the feel of the Force once more surrounding him. He looked first to Han, and then followed his nod out the viewport. For a moment, he stopped breathing. They were not in the right place. Frantically, he looked back to Leia, who had the same shocked expression on her face. Then, his stomach turned sickeningly at the realization that they had no idea where they were, or indeed perhaps when they were.  
  
Indy was sitting behind Luke quietly gazing out at the stars. But even his awe of the scene didn't keep him from noticing how nervous his companions were. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. "Um, is there a problem?"  
  
Han let out a long breath. "Yeah. We're, uh, not in the right place."  
  
"What do you mean?" Indy asked, starting to get worried himself.  
  
"Well this is most definitely not where this black hole is supposed to come out," Han said, running a hand through his hair.  
  
Leia sighed angrily. "Perfect. This is just perfect. I knew something like this was going to happen!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Leia, how was I supposed to know!" Han said defensively.  
  
"I told you this was a bad idea, Han."  
  
Han was beginning to get angry. "No, you said it was a bad idea to bring Indy with us, but this would have happened anyway!"  
  
"Yes, but now we have to figure out how to get him back as well as ourselves!" Leia shouted.  
  
"Calm down!" Luke said loudly but without anger. He sent a few calming waves through the Force, and looked at Leia in rebuke. She remembered what he had told her about a Jedi controlling their emotions, and especially not allowing themselves to get angry, and calmed herself. "Now," Luke continued in an even, commanding voice, "yelling isn't going to solve anything. Yes, we're in a bind, but it's important that we think through this logically. Obviously the black hole has shifted somehow and has dropped us somewhere else in space." He paused before adding, "And there's the possibility that we're also in a different time. But, let's take this one step at a time. I suggest we find the nearest planet and learn more about our situation before we rush to any conclusions."  
  
Han sighed deeply, and shook his head. "You're right kid, sorry." He punched some buttons on the navicomputer and found a planet. "There's a planet not too far from here, in the other direction. Actually, we should be able to see it." He took the helm and turned the Falcon around in a wide arc.  
  
"So, I guess this means a change of vacation plans?" Indy said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.  
  
Han grinned back. "Yeah, sorry to impose on your fun, Jones."  
  
"It's fine. I seem doomed to never have a free minute anyway. If it's not one thing, it's another. At least a change of environment is nice." Han couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's undying sense of humor.  
  
The Falcon skirted around the black hole and now the space on the other side was becoming visible. "I just hope we ended up somewhere and sometime reasonable. I really hope it's not the future, because Force knows I don't want to see myself as an old man."  
  
Han's banter was cut off by a sharp gasp from Leia. The planet was now in full view, large and blue-green in the viewport. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't know whether it was a good or bad fortune that had brought them here. She could only stare in utter astonishment. In a soft whisper that was almost inaudible, she gasped, "Alderaan." 


	8. A Disturbance in the Force

Leia was leading the way through the familiar streets, taking in every shop and person. The city they had landed in was one she had been to many times- Lycanth. For the most part, it looked the same, only some of the buildings looked brand new. She tried to remember approximately when they were built, but knew only it was before she was born.  
  
Luke stood close by, keeping a watchful eye and speaking softly to his sister, "Do you know what year is it here?"  
  
"No, it could be 10 years ago or 50 years ago. I can't really be sure."  
  
"We have to be careful," Luke cautioned. "If we run into anyone you know, there could be problems."  
  
"I understand," Leia said, only half paying attention to him as she ambled down the walking path, looking around in awe. She still couldn't believe it. She was on Alderaan. The beautiful fields, the quaint cities, the air which was never too hot or too cold- it was all there, and real. Luke walked along beside her, reaching out with the Force, slightly on edge.  
  
Behind them a few meters, Indy and Han were walking next to each other. They were drawing curious looks from the locals now that Indy was dressed in a spare outfit of Han's and the two looked identical. They ignored them and strode along confidently, taking in the scenery.  
  
"This seems like a nice place," Indy said.  
  
"Yeah, never been here before."  
  
"This was Leia's planet?"  
  
"That's right." Han frowned a little. "Before it was completely destroyed by the Empire," he said in a low tone. He hoped no one was eaves dropping on their conversation; it might seem a bit odd.  
  
"Yeah, I remember her talking about it." Indy shook his head. "I can't imagine what that would be like." He scanned the crowds, and frowned. "I have to tell you, this is a little disappointing. Alien planet and all, I was expecting a few more... well, aliens."  
  
Han smiled. "Here we're aliens, Jones," he quipped. "But don't worry, I'm sure there are several of the odder variety around here. These cities can be kind of segregated sometimes. We seem to be in the human sector." Ahead of them, Leia and Luke had stopped outside a restaurant. Han frowned and wondered what had happened. "Hey, something up kid?" he asked Luke as he and Indy approached them.  
  
Luke looked unusually upset- brow furrowed, muscles tensed as if ready to move at any moment. "I feel a disturbance in the Force." Han glanced to his wife, who also looked a little unsettled, but more confused.  
  
"The Force?" Indy said. "You've mentioned that before, but what is it?"  
  
"Uh, it's this kind of energy field that only Jedi Knights can feel. They use it to sense things and to fight," Han described quickly. "I never put much stock in it myself, but hey it seems to work so I don't knock it." Indy nodded, but clearly didn't understand very well.  
  
"Is there some kind of danger?" Indy asked, wishing he had his revolver instead of an empty holster on Han's borrowed belt.  
  
"No, it's just some tension. And," Luke hesitated. "and something else. There's a strength in the Force inside this restaurant."  
  
"Meaning?" Han asked.  
  
"Someone strong in the Force is in there," Leia said, staring ahead somewhat hazily.  
  
"Is that good or bad?" Indy asked slowly.  
  
Luke shook his head. "I'm not sure. But there's definitely some kind of tension building in there. It could be..." But suddenly he stopped talking, and spun with lightning speed to place a low kick across the shins of a man running from the restaurant. Instead of connecting solidly, however, he felt the other man's boots barely hit his leg. The man was moving so fast he was literally a blur, but wasn't able to jump fast enough to completely clear Luke's kick. He stumbled forward, suddenly slowing to normal speed, tucked a shoulder and rolled over, springing straight to his feet. Luke's lightsaber was already ignited in a brilliant green, and his body set in a ready stance.  
  
"What is that thing?" Indy asked of the strange glowing sword. It was enough that he had just seen these two men move at super-human speed, but the strange weapon truly boggled his mind.  
  
"It's a lightsabre," Han explained. "These swords, they're the weapon of the Jedi."  
  
The citizens on the street had cleared away quickly, and a few stood cautiously watching the standoff. Alderaan was such a peaceful place that an occurrence such as this was unheard of. There were very few weapons on the planet, and even fewer lightsabers- which was why the sight of two men wielding the graceful weapons attracted everyone's attention.  
  
The man standing across from Luke was in an almost identical ready stance and had gripped between his hands a sleek lightsaber, ignited in a white- blue radiance. His face was set in concentration as he stared down his opponent. For a while, neither of them moved. The crowd was silent. Indy and Han looked to Leia for some kind of answer, but she looked just as surprised as they were, but also a little unsettled.  
  
Finally, the robed man spoke up. "You're a Jedi?" his voice was crisp and softly accented. The question was obviously rhetorical; he had sensed this about his opponent, or he would have already acted.  
  
Relaxing his stance, but keeping his lightsaber ignited, Luke stared back, nodding slightly just to reassure the man. He didn't sense anything dangerous about him, but there was something else...  
  
The man let all the tension out of his body and closed his lightsaber, clipping it on his belt. Luke did the same, but continued to stare at the man intently. He saw that the Jedi was much younger than he would have guessed; he couldn't have been older than 23. His face was clean shaven and his brown hair stood up in cropped spikes. A long, thin braid was slung over his right shoulder. He wore a heavy brown robe over a more functional cream tunic. Despite the fact that Luke knew he'd never seen the young man before, he felt a strong sense of familiarity.  
  
"Blast," the man hissed under his breath, staring down the street after some unknown assailant. "I let him get away." He noticed the eyes of the crowd on him still, and gave them a cool glance. They began to disband, knowing that there was to be no fight. The man turned his attention to the darkly dressed Jedi across the street from him. He was standing there still with two other men and a petite woman, all of them staring at him. He locked eyes with the other Jedi, and crossed the street to meet him.  
  
Luke had been probing through the Force to try to find out what was puzzling him so much about this man. It wasn't until his eyes locked with the young man's crystal blue gaze that he sensed it. He barely kept himself from gasping loudly in shock. He knew he must have sent the strong feeling out through the Force, though, because Leia did gasp, albeit softly. Luke stood wordlessly looking over the other Jedi. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible.  
  
The young man was now a few feet in front of him. "I don't believe we've ever met, Master..."  
  
"Luke," he managed to reply. His mind searched frantically for a last name that wouldn't sound too suspicious. "Rendar," he finally settled on. "Luke Rendar."  
  
The man bowed slightly. "Master Rendar, my apologies."  
  
"Please, just call me Luke," he insisted. His head pulsed with the loud pumping of his heart. "And it was my fault. I'm not familiar with this planet nor its Jedi. I was simply reacting to a disturbance in the Force."  
  
"I understand completely ma- Luke." He paused, then added, "But I'm glad to have met another Jedi. I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan to Master Qui-Gon Jinn."  
  
Han's eyes widened and his jaw slacked. He swiveled his head down to face Leia, who was speechless. She gave him a look that told him to keep his mouth shut. His head spinning, he straightened up and shook it. Indy was glancing at him, utterly confused.  
  
Obi-Wan was waiting expectantly for the rest of the group to introduce themselves. He cleared his throat and raised his eyebrows just enough to interrupt their silence.  
  
Indy couldn't for the life of him figure out what was going on, so he shrugged off his apprehension and stepped forward, offering his hand. "Indiana Jones, call me Indy," he said casually, only then realizing that perhaps the strange man wouldn't know what a handshake was. Fortunately, it seemed the gesture was multi-universal, and Obi-Wan returned the greeting.  
  
"I take it you and he are twins," Obi-Wan said, with a nod towards Han.  
  
"Oh," Han finally managed to compose himself enough to speak. "Yeah, kind of obvious I guess." He grinned lopsidedly but only half-confidently, still very flustered.  
  
"Well, there are better ways to hide it than by dressing alike," Obi-Wan replied. Han thought he saw a small grin tugging at the Jedi's lips, and grew a little indignant. Was he being made fun of? By Obi-Wan? It wouldn't be the first time, but it still made him mad. He was trying to think of something to say in reply, when Leia broke in with her natural diplomacy.  
  
"I'm Han's wife, Leia Jones," she said easily with the pleasant smile of a diplomat. She shot Han a look.  
  
"Yeah, I'm Han. Jones," Han managed. It was hardly the clever line he'd been searching for, and he inwardly cursed Leia for her uncanny ability to make him act civilly.  
  
"Glad to meet you all." Obi-Wan turned his eyes back to Luke. "I feel the need to explain myself. I'm here on an assignment to track down a local threat. I thought I'd found one of them in that restaurant. When he went out the back way, I headed for the front."  
  
"I'm sorry I reacted in that way," Luke said. He felt awkward, like he should be treating Obi-Wan with the kind of respect that was due to an elder. But this Obi-Wan was three or four years younger than him. Trying to push past his confusion and act normally, he asked, "What is you assignment here?"  
  
Obi-Wan looked around briefly, and found that the most curious looks were coming from some of the people he was talking with. Still, he was always cautious. "I'd rather not discuss it here. In fact, I'd rather not stay here too long. Is there somewhere else we could go?"  
  
Luke glanced at Han, then back. The Falcon was old enough that it wouldn't seem out of place here, so he decided it was a safe bet. "Our ship is in a docking bay not too far from here."  
  
Leia smiled to mask her slowly ebbing shock. "And it's almost time for dinner anyway," she said, after quickly noting by the positioning of Alderaan's sun that this was true. "You can eat with us." Han gave her a somewhat panicked look, but she ignored him.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Thank you, that would be nice."  
  
"Ah, good," Indy said with a loud, relaxed sigh which contrasted the mood of the others. "I'm starving!" he looked to Han. "Don't mind if we eat in your ship, right?"  
  
"No," Han said after a moment's pause. "Yeah she's right this way." He pushed aside his worry and focused his thoughts on his beloved ship instead. "She's not much of a dining room, but then again that ain't her main function." He grinned and led the way back to the Falcon, with Indy and Obi-Wan following close behind.  
  
Leia grabbed Luke's arm and slowed his walk slightly until she was sure Obi- Wan wouldn't be listening to them over Han's continued rambling about the Falcon. "I might run into someone I know!?" she said furiously but quietly.  
  
Luke was surprised at how quickly she'd dropped her facade. "We couldn't just run away!"  
  
"No, you're right," she said softly. "But this is most certainly going to be interesting."  
  
Luke was too flabbergasted to say anything. 


	9. The Decision

The group reached the hangar where the Falcon was stored and stepped inside. Han beamed with his usual pride.  
  
"That's your ship?" Obi-Wan said somewhat skeptically, but as politely as possible.  
  
Han's face fell. "Yeah, there a problem?" he asked defensively.  
  
"No, no problem."  
  
Lowering the ramp and leading the way, Leia said cordially, "Why don't we all go inside?" She was followed by Han and Obi-Wan, but Indy caught Luke by the sleeve and pulled him back a few steps.  
  
"There's something weird going on, isn't there?" He asked quietly.  
  
"I'll explain later," Luke said as he quickened his pace to catch up. Indy sighed, feeling hopelessly lost.  
  
Inside, the group sat on the Falcon's cushioned bench seats. Once settled, Leia turned to Obi-Wan.  
  
Obi-Wan was a bit surprised as to why this so-called apprentice was doing all the talking while her master (who strangely appeared to be the same age), remained quiet. Out of respect, he turned towards the Jedi Master as he spoke. "I was sent here on an assignment from the Council to look into some local uprisings. It seems there are some small groups opposed to the current leadership." He was about to go into more detail when he paused, his eyes flickering over the two look-alikes. The one with shorter hair seemed interesting in what he was saying, but the owner of the ship was regarding him with a somewhat suspicious eye. Hesitating, he asked Luke, "Excuse me, Master, but I'm not sure it would be wise to discuss the details of my investigation in," he searched for a fitting word, "broad company."  
  
"No, it's fine. Anything Leia and I can hear, Han and Indy can too," Luke replied. "And please Obi-Wan," he added, "just call me Luke."  
  
"Yes, of course," Obi-Wan said, a bit confused. These Jedi did not seem to him like the normal, by-the-code type he was used to. "Anyway, during my investigation, I learned that the situation was much more serious than anyone had expected. It turns out that several of these radicals are plotting to assassinate Senator Organa." He sensed an unsettled feeling coming from the others, especially Leia; but she managed to keep her composure. "I was trying to capture the leader of this group this morning before I ran into you."  
  
Luke and Leia locked eyes for a moment, then he turned to Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your assignment."  
  
"Oh, it's no trouble really. I should probably have called Coruscant and requested some backup, a Jedi Master to come help. It's really not something I should be handling on my own at this point, only being a Padawan." He suddenly felt a little ashamed of himself, and cast his gaze downward for a moment. Then, he hesitantly submitted, "Of course, it would take a while for anyone to get here, and seeing as I already have a Jedi Master and another Padawan here." He trailed off, and for a while there was no response. "But it's not my place to impose upon you either, as I'm sure you have your own business to attend to," he added quickly. Inwardly he berated himself for obviously bothering the strangers.  
  
Leia was staring at Luke urgently, and he was bent forward with folded hands on mouth in deep contemplation. Indy was observing all of this in silent confusion, figuring it would be explained to him sometime and there was no point in trying to understand it.  
  
Next to him, Han had been silent as well as he took in the whole situation. Then a slow smirk began to tug at his lips as he leaned forward intently and said slowly, "Now wait a second- you're asking for our help?"  
  
"Well actually I was just asking-" Obi-Wan looked to his fellow Jedi, then back to the spacer who had addressed him. "Yes, I'm asking for your help."  
  
This caused Han to break into a full grin. "Ah, the irony," he said as he let out a half laughing breath.  
  
"Excuse me?" Obi-Wan was very confused by the peculiar behavior of all these people.  
  
"Nothing," he said with a wave of his hand. Then his eyes brightened. "Hey, is there any kind of reward for this sort of thing?" Leia shot him a glare, which he countered with an innocent raising of his eyebrows. "What, I'm just asking!"  
  
Before Obi-Wan could think of anything to say in response to the ridiculous inquiry, Luke spoke. "We would love to help you, Obi-Wan. However, we need some time to talk certain things over as a group. I hope you understand."  
  
"Certainly," the Padawan said with a nod of his head. "If it would be alright, I would like to go get a few things from my ship. I should be back in not too long, and it would give you time to discuss the matter among yourselves."  
  
"That sounds good," Luke said as he stood. Obi-Wan did the same, and bowed respectfully before him. Feeling very awkward, Luke oddly half-bowed back, hoping it was close to the right thing to do. He had done some research on the old Jedi Order, the Code, and their practices, but now that he was confronted with them, he wasn't sure how to act.  
  
Obi-Wan didn't seem to notice, or if he did was too polite to say anything as he turned and left. Luke hit a button on the wall, closing the ramp behind him.  
  
As soon as Obi-Wan was gone, Indy said, "Now would someone please explain what is going on?!"  
  
The other three looked at each other, unsure of where to begin. "Well, you see," Luke said. "First of all, the planet we're on is Alderaan, which was Leia's home planet."  
  
"Yeah, I remember she told me about it," Indy replied gently. "So we're in your galaxy, but in your past?"  
  
"Yes," Leia said. "Around 45 years in our past."  
  
Indy looked confused. "How do you know that?"  
  
"Obi-Wan died when he was about 60, and that was 8 years ago," Leia replied.  
  
"Wait," Indy said, pausing. "Do you know him?"  
  
"He was my mentor," Luke said quietly.  
  
"The British guy?" Indy asked, only getting more perplexed.  
  
"What?" Leia asked.  
  
"Never mind. I'm just trying to get this straight," Indy said, continuing slowly, "This Obi-Wan guy is someone you knew when he was older? Or, will know when he will be older?" His words sounded confusing even to him. Luke nodded. "Wow, that's a little weird."  
  
"You're telling me!" Han spoke up. "I still can't believe that, that kid is that crazy old man!"  
  
"You knew him too?" Indy asked.  
  
"Yeah, guy was a few bolts short of an engine if you get my meaning," Han snorted.  
  
"Han," Leia admonished.  
  
Luke ignored his friend's comment. "There's no way we are going to get involved in this. It would lead to nothing but trouble. We already have enough to worry about as it is. We just need to figure out how to get everyone back where they belong."  
  
"But what about Bail?" Leia asked.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Luke replied slowly, "Leia, we already know he's going to be ok. This has happened in the past. Obi-Wan has already dealt with it."  
  
"You don't know that! What if he was going to catch the assassin this morning and we changed that!" Leia countered. Luke scratched his chin in consideration.  
  
"I'm confused again," Indy said. "Who's Bail?"  
  
"Her father," Han replied.  
  
Indy's brow furrowed. "I thought that Vader guy was her father?"  
  
"He was her real father, but Bail was her adopted father."  
  
"Ah. Well that does present a problem."  
  
"Luke," Leia begged, "I know you said we should try to avoid getting involved in something like this, but it's too late now- we're already involved. You heard Obi-Wan, he said it would take a while for other help to arrive. I can't leave this to someone else. We have to help. Please."  
  
After a long pause, Luke conceded, "All right, we'll help, but we can't tell him too much about ourselves. As of now, we are here on a family respite. I'll assure him that Han and Indy will be helpful in the mission. Under no circumstances can we tell him my last name." Han and Leia nodded in agreement.  
  
"Why's that?" Indy asked curiously.  
  
"Because, it's also my father's name, and Obi-Wan trained my father," Luke said evenly. Indy seemed to understand. "And," Luke said with a deep breath, "one other thing. If this were to go wrong, if we failed." He paused as he quickly glanced at Leia briefly. "If we failed, it could change our entire history."  
  
A solemn silence fell over the group. Finally, Han said seriously, "Let's not fail." 


	10. Here Goes Nothing

Several hours later, Obi-Wan had still not returned. Leia was stretched out on one of the couches, resting but trying to stay awake as Luke paced around nervously. "I wonder what's keeping him," he muttered.  
  
"Maybe his ship was farther away than he thought," Leia said sleepily, barely keeping her eyes open.  
  
"I don't know," Luke murmured. "Something doesn't feel right."  
  
Up in the cockpit, Han was showing Indy the various controls on the Falcon, happy for once to have someone who didn't find it boring. He had already given Indy one of his old blasters and instructed him on how to use it on various power settings. Inside the Falcon, the rule was that blasters were always kept on stun. The ship was fragile enough as it was.  
  
"So this navi-computer," Indy said, pointing to the blue screen. "Does it have coordinates for every planet?"  
  
"Every one that's been discovered," Han replied.  
  
"And how many is that?"  
  
"Oh, who knows? Maybe hundreds of thousands."  
  
Indy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And being in a different time. that didn't effect it any?"  
  
Han frowned. "It doesn't seem to have. I mean, it's still the same galaxy after all."  
  
"But what about when you went through to my galaxy or universe?"  
  
"Uh, well." Han didn't want to admit that he had no idea. Just then, however, they heard the noise of someone entering the rear compartment. Grateful for the distraction, Han got up and lead the way to the back.  
  
"Looks like your friend's back," Indy commented as Obi-Wan stepped inside, somewhat winded, and closed the door.  
  
"He is not my friend," Han ground out.  
  
"Obi-Wan!" Luke exclaimed. "Where have you been? Are you all right?"  
  
Leia sat up rather groggily and rubbed her eyes. "What took so long?"  
  
"I went to my ship to pick up some of my supplies and mission log," He set a small bag on the floor. "But on the way back, I saw the assassin from earlier today. I followed him for a while and found the location of their hideout. Fortunately, I don't think I was seen. But we have to act immediately- they could carry out their plans at anytime." He stopped and looked to Luke. "That is, if you would help me."  
  
Nodding, Luke said, "Yes, we've all decided to help you." He gave Han a pointed glance which was answered with a roll of the eyes. "Do you need all of us?"  
  
Obi-Wan overlooked the group hesitantly. He needed Luke's help and Leia's would be appreciated, but he wasn't sure about the other two. They weren't Jedi and he had a harm time trusting anyone who wasn't a Jedi to help him. "Well, I'm not sure we all have to go." he said carefully.  
  
"That's fine," Han replied. "I'm perfectly okay with staying here." He tried to ignore Leia's scowl.  
  
"Well I'll go," Indy offered. He wanted to help for Leia's sake, and he also wanted to get out of the Falcon and explore this strange world while he could.  
  
Not to be outdone, Han added, "But I guess I should go too." He locked eyes with Obi-Wan, and could see that the young Jedi was skeptical of him. That only made him more determined to help out.  
  
"All right," Obi-Wan conceded. "We'll all go. Follow me."  
  
******  
  
The site of the renegade hideout was out in Alderaan's grassy open plains. There was little cover, so Obi-Wan and Luke had used the Force to provide as much stealth as possible to the small group as they snuck through the tall grass. When they came upon a small clearing, Obi-Wan motioned for everyone to get down quietly at the edge of the clearing.  
  
There was a crunch, loud in the silence, and Obi-Wan wheeled to see Han with a 'who, me?' look on his face. He shot him a glare, and was met with one in return. To Luke, he said in a whisper, "This is the place. It's under this clearing, in the ground."  
  
Nodding, Luke asked, "How did they get in?"  
  
"There are two concealed tunnels on either side of this clearing. I thought we should split up and go in both ways so that they don't escape," Obi-Wan suggested.  
  
"Sounds like a good idea," Luke said.  
  
"Wait," Leia interrupted. "What if they have some other exit? Shouldn't one of us stay out here?"  
  
"That would be wise," Obi-Wan reflected. He looked over his companions. Not knowing what was inside, he felt more comfortable with himself and the other Jedi going in. However, he wasn't sure he trusted the other men to stay outside without bolting or falling asleep. "Leia, do you think you can handle it?" he asked. She was, after all, a padawan and she seemed reliable.  
  
Leia wasn't as confident in her Force abilities as Obi-Wan was- she had only been training for about a month. Still, she had her lightsabre with her. it was a slim chance that anyone would escape from the hideout anyway, so it would probably be safer out here, she reasoned. "Sure," she answered confidently.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded. "Then what we'll do is." He was about to continue explaining his plan, when he remembered that there was a Jedi Master present. Slightly embarrassed, he said, "Master Luke, what do you think would be the best course of action?"  
  
"How many times do I have to ask you to just call me Luke? Please, consider me your equal," he insisted. "This is your mission; we're just here to help you."  
  
"Right," Obi-Wan said. The truth was, he was a little uneasy, though he would never show it. An investigative mission was one thing, but now it had gotten more serious and he was a little nervous at being put in charge. Mustering his confidence, he said, "Indy and I will go to the entrance on the other side. You and Han stay here and go through this entrance at the same time." The slightly older Jedi nodded, and he assumed Luke could sense where the hidden entrance was. Obi-Wan turned to Indy, "Come with me, quietly." The two crept through the tall grass around the perimeter, careful not to walk quietly.  
  
"You're sure this is a good idea? Going in someplace we've never been, where we don't know what's on the other side of those doors?" Han whispered to Luke.  
  
"Obi-Wan wouldn't do it if he didn't think we'd be okay," Luke assured him.  
  
Han exchanged glances with Leia, then replied, "Yeah, but you gotta remember, this guy's younger than you even. He's not the same as when you knew him."  
  
Luke gave Han a steady look. "Obi-Wan is a great Jedi. Don't you trust him?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Han snorted. "Completely."  
  
From across the clearing, Obi-Wan signaled to Luke, getting his attention. Then he ignited his blue lightsabre, and Luke ignited his green one. They both began to burn through the trap doors in the ground while the others waited behind them. When the thin metal had melted away, Obi-Wan looked up to Luke. He nodded back, and the two simultaneously jumped inside. Indy, blaster in hand, quickly dropped in behind Obi-Wan.  
  
Han pulled out his own blaster, shot Leia a worried look and mumbled, "Here goes nothing." He jumped into the darkness after Luke. 


	11. Trapped

The blue glow of Obi-Wan's lightsabre illuminated the small, dark tunnel. It was no more than a meter square, surrounded by metal walls and ceilings. The Jedi cautiously crouched down and began to inch his way slowly forward, followed by Indy. After a few meters, the passageway slanted downward. The two stopped there. "Well. there doesn't appear to be any sort of protected door or code box here, so I guess it's safe to proceed, as long as we're careful."  
  
Indy frowned. "I don't know. It seems like they'd have some sort of security measures installed, doesn't it?"  
  
"You're right," Obi-Wan said. "It does seem odd." He scanned the dark walls carefully, unable to see clearly in the dark. Closing his eyes, he reached out with the Force.  
  
"What are you doing?" Indy asked. The young man said nothing in reply, keeping his eyes closed, seemingly in meditation. Indy thought it was an odd time for such a ritual, but had seen enough of strange cultures and practices to keep his mouth shut and see what happened.  
  
Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. He carefully brought his lightsabre up near the ceiling. "There," he pointed with his free right hand to a barely visible panel. "Here," he said, carefully pointing his lightsabre, handle first, towards Indy. "Hold this for me. Carefully."  
  
Swords Indy could do, but he was a little hesitant to take hold of this strange weapon. It seemed he had no choice, though. He put his blaster back in the holster, then used both hands to hold the lightsabre steadily out in front of Obi-Wan, careful to hold it close enough where the young man could see what he was doing without getting the top of his head sliced off.  
  
Obi-Wan pressed one side of the panel, and it slid open to reveal a number pad. "Ah ha," he said, giving Indy a smile, "Good call."  
  
Indy smirked. "Yeah, but a lot of good it does us. We don't know the code."  
  
Obi-Wan turned to the panel and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. "It's one-one-three-eight," he said simply, moving to press the buttons.  
  
"Um." Indy was about to comment, but Obi-Wan had already entered the code. Indy tensed, ready for some trap to be set off. To his shock, the red light on the panel turned green.  
  
A slight smirk tugged at the corners of the Jedi's mouth. "You haven't spent much time around your Jedi friends, have you?" he asked.  
  
"No, we barely know each other really," Indy said, trying not to sound dumbfounded. He was going to ask what had just happened, but instead shook his head slightly. "Whatever works." He handed the lightsabre back to Obi- Wan, who slowly began descending down the sloped part of the corridor.  
  
Luke and Han paused before the slanted section of their own passageway.  
  
"What's the hold up?" Han asked impatiently.  
  
"Something doesn't seem right," Luke said slowly.  
  
"Ah, enough with the hocus pocus kid, we've got a building to infiltrate!" Han said with a confident smirk.  
  
"Han wait!" Luke shouted, but the spacer had already started ambitiously down the tunnel. Luke hurried after him. Suddenly, transparasteel panels shot up on both ends of the slanted section, locking them both inside.  
  
"Ah Sith," Han grumbled. "It's ok, no need to panic!" Han insisted with a smirk. A loud alarm began to ring. "But uh, you might wanna work on getting us out of here," he added. Suddenly, spouts from the walls opened up, spewing water into the newly formed tank, filling it quickly. His confident look fell. "Now!" he shouted urgently.  
  
"Scoot back!" Luke shouted as he began to burn through the tough, clear wall at the far end of the tank with his lightsabre. Han did as he was told without argument for once. The lightsabre was burning its way through, but at an agonizingly slow pace.  
  
Outside, Leia remained alert, crouching in the grass at the edge of the clearing. She couldn't hear the alarm, but she felt uneasy. Her senses weren't fine tuned enough to be sure it was something in the Force, but she ignited her lightsabre anyway, just to be safe.  
  
Indy and Obi-Wan crouched at the exit of their tunnel, the entrance to the hideout's main room. Obi-Wan had closed his lightsabre so as not to draw attention to themselves. There were five men sitting around a table in the center, discussing something. Supplies were stacked in crates around the room; a few weapons, hacking devices, palace guard disguises, and some explosives. "There, that's the leader," Obi-Wan whispered, pointing to a tall, strong man with light features.  
  
"So what, we just go in weapons blazing?" Indy asked. Before Obi-Wan could reply, a shrill alarm sounded. "Oh, great," Indy said dryly, readying his blaster and about to jump out into the main room.  
  
"Hold on," Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on Indy's arm to stop him. "It's not us. Look." He pointed as two of the men hurried up a ladder to the outside. "So there was another entrance," he mused, then turned his attention back to the three men remaining in the fortress, now with their blasters drawn.  
  
"Now what?" Indy asked.  
  
"Now we go in with weapons blazing," Obi-Wan said, a hint of a grin on his lips. He rushed out, igniting his lightsabre, Indy following close behind him. The men immediately all began firing, and Indy was sure they were done for. To his amazement, the young Jedi easily deflected the shots with his sword. One of them hit one of the men directly in the chest, killing him instantly. The other men hurried behind some crates. Indy and Obi-Wan did the same, barely escaping a few shots which sizzled into the wall.  
  
"Nice moves," Indy commented.  
  
"Thanks," Obi-Wan replied, bemused. "But it seems we're in an unfortunate position." He surveyed the situation briefly. "I'm going to go out there, and you stay back here and cover me. Then once it's clear, you come over and help."  
  
Indy nodded, then began firing over the tops of the crates at the other group. He succeeded in drawing their attention long enough for Obi-Wan to ignite his lightsabre and sprint towards their hiding place.  
  
The two men who had hurried up the ladder reached the top and quickly bolted out. The first was stopped by a lightsabre blade straight through his chest. He gasped and collapsed, and the second man barely leaped back in time to avoid the blade cutting into his own midsection.  
  
Leia was glad she had been ready to attack. Now she turned her attention to the second man, only a few feet away, aiming his blaster at her. In a desperate lunging movement, she leapt forward and cut off his arm at the elbow. He screamed in pain and fell to the ground. The cut hadn't been graceful, but it had been effective. Leia took a deep breath as she let herself relax a little.  
  
The water was almost to the top of the tank now. Luke had been cutting a wide circle through the transparasteel, but it was coming along agonizingly slow. Only a few centimeters remained, but it seemed like it was taking forever to cut through at all. And since the side he was cutting through was completely under water, he had to keep stopping to return to the other end for a breath. At least he had remembered the setting to keep his lightsabre functional underwater, otherwise it would have shorted out long ago. "Kid!" Han shouted as Luke returned for another breath from the rapidly- closing pocket of air remaining. "If that Force of yours has any tricks it could pull out right now, they'd be much appreciated!"  
  
Without a word, Luke dove back under and used all his strength to push his lightsabre into the remaining few solid centimeters of transparisteel.  
  
Obi-Wan had killed the man on the left before the other man and the group's leader even knew he was there. He quickly locked eyes with the leader, who blanched and scrambled backwards. A close shot reminded the leader that he had another attacker on the other side of the room, and he quickly took aim and shot the blaster out of Indy's hand. Obi-Wan was still concentrating on him, readying his lightsabre for a disabling blow since he knew he'd need to bring the man into custody.  
  
In his determination, he forgot the other man. Suddenly, his lightsabre was kicked from his hand, skittering across the room. Before he knew it, the man had kicked him in the head, sending him falling over backwards onto the floor. The man towered over him with a smirk on his face, aiming his blaster at Obi-Wan's head. The Jedi called his lightsabre to himself, but knew it wouldn't be there in time.  
  
Suddenly, a fist connected with the radical's jaw, sending him reeling into the wall, dropping his blaster. He turned to see Indy readying for another punch, and swung out at his head. Indy swiftly ducked the punch, and kneed the other man in the stomach. The man gasped as the air went out of his lungs and he collapsed to the floor. Indy grabbed his blaster and pointed it at him. "Don't move," he commanded.  
  
Obi-Wan picked himself up off the floor, now holding his lightsabre hilt in his right hand. "Good job," he said with a smile of approval to Indy. "Where did the leader go?"  
  
"He went up the ladder like a coward," Indy grunted.  
  
Obi-Wan was about to go after the escaped leader when suddenly there was a loud sound to his left. He wheeled around to see Luke and Han, both soaking wet, tumble out of the other entrance. "Well," he said with a reproving look towards Han, "I wonder who set the alarm off."  
  
Han scowled, but Luke spoke up first. "Obi-Wan, where's the group's leader?"  
  
"He went up there," Obi-Wan said, forgetting his anger towards Han.  
  
"Outside?" Han asked urgently. "Leia!" he exclaimed as he remembered that she was out there alone. He scrambled up the ladder, followed Luke and Obi- Wan. Indy stayed behind, guarding his captive.  
  
Leia had not been expecting anyone else to come up from the hideout. The tall blonde man escaping the hatch hadn't been expecting anyone either, but immediately reacted by shooting Leia in the hand. She cried out as she dropped her lightsabre, and before she could do anything, the large man hand grabbed her by both wrists.  
  
"Another Jedi?!" he growled. "You're coming with me!" he hit a button on his belt, and a small ship rose up out of the ground in the large clearing. He dashed towards his ship, dragging a struggling Leia with him.  
  
Han burst out of the underground hatch to see the leader disappearing into his ship with Leia. Han let out a shout of anger as he fired at the man. But the back hatch had already closed, and the ship was taking off. He kept firing angrily.  
  
"Han, no!" Luke said, grabbing his brother-in-law's arm. "Leia's in there!"  
  
"We have to get her!" Han yelled hysterically.  
  
Obi-Wan calmly pulled out a small device and threw it onto the departing ship. He looked evenly at Han. "Tracking device," he said coolly. "We'll be able to find out where he is and follow him rationally." He motioned to the man lying on the ground missing a hand. "We can get more information from this man and the one Indy captured." He looked Han calmly in the eyes; Han glared back at him angrily. 


	12. Tension

The trip back to the Falcon was not a pleasant one. Han was in a hurry to get to the ship. He wanted to go rescue Leia immediately, and no one else said anything about it, although they doubted a rescue operation would be possible right now. They simply shuffled along in awkward silence, exchanging glances every now and then. When they finally reached the hangar, night was falling. Han hurried inside, waving the others along.  
  
"Come on!" Han shouted. "Get strapped in. Hey Kenobi, where does that tracking device say he took her?"  
  
Obi-Wan reluctantly replied, "It says the ship has been parked in a docking bay a few hours away from here."  
  
As soon as Indy and Luke were in, too, Han closed the door and began striding towards the cockpit. "Well let's not waste any time getting there. He's already got a head start on us."  
  
Obi-Wan swallowed before replying, "We can't go after her tonight."  
  
Han froze, and everyone else tensed with him. Slowly, he turned half way around on one heel to face Obi-Wan. He clenched his hands tightly, and said through gritted teeth, "Yes we can, and we are."  
  
Trying to keep his confidence, Obi-Wan straightened to his full height. "They could be anywhere by now. Rushing out at night without a plan would be useless. I'm sure we're all tired as it is. I suggest we get some rest and do some further investigation tomorrow before acting."  
  
Han turned the rest of the way, and began to inch towards the younger man. He was taller than the Jedi by at least three inches. He pointed an index finger threateningly at Obi-Wan and growled, "I don't want anymore of your suggestions."  
  
Indy and Luke exchanged a worried look. Luke felt like he should do something. He knew how bad Han's temper was. Indy wanted to keep his mouth shut and stay out of it, but also didn't want a fight breaking out. Luke stepped forward, holding his hands up. "Han," he said gently, "I know you're worried about Leia, and you're angry, but please try to calm down." That earned him a glare from his friend.  
  
"It's more than a suggestion," Obi-Wan said evenly. "This is my mission and it's my responsibility to deal with any situation that may arise, including this one."  
  
Han couldn't control his anger anymore. He grabbed Obi-Wan by the shoulders and slammed him up against the wall. Indy and Luke both moved quickly towards them. Before Han knew what was going on, however, Obi-Wan had swiftly knocked his arms away and shoved him backwards with an outstretched palm and the aide of the Force. Han fell back into Indy and Luke, who held his shoulders to keep him from trying to retaliate. "I don't care what this kid says, we're going to go to that hangar now!" he yelled, pulling away from the others and storming off towards the cockpit.  
  
"Should someone stop him?" Indy asked no one in particular.  
  
"Let him go," Luke replied. "He needs to blow off some steam, let him. It'll take a few hours to get there anyway. We'll figure out something by then. Just go make sure he doesn't crash."  
  
"Good idea," Indy said below his breath as he headed off towards the cockpit.  
  
"You alright?" Luke asked Obi-Wan.  
  
"Of course," Obi-Wan replied, a bit indignantly. Then his eyes dropped to the floor and his tone quieted. "I'm sorry, Master, I shouldn't have provoked him like that."  
  
"I am not your master," Luke chided. "But it wasn't your fault anyway."  
  
Obi-Wan sighed and stared off into nowhere. "Master Qui-Gon would have handled it much more eloquently." His eyes flicked back to Luke. "I'm sorry for putting you in this position. I should have just called the Council and had them send Qui-Gon to help once things got out of hand."  
  
"We wanted to help," Luke reminded him.  
  
"I couldn't bear it if you lost your apprentice on account of me," Obi-Wan said. "And your sister, for that matter. And Han's wife." His brow furrowed slightly for a moment. He hesitated, and Luke nodded as if to say 'go ahead'. "Pardon my impertinence, but there are a few things I don't quite understand about you and Leia."  
  
"Such as?"  
  
"Well it seems a little odd for a brother to be training his sister, especially when you're so close in age. And," he fidgeted a little, "isn't it a bit irregular for your padawan to be married?"  
  
Luke was at a loss for a moment. He had tried to gather as much information as possible about the Old Jedi Order in his time restoring the temple on Coruscant. He realized now that the situation between Leia and Han would be out of place according to customs of old. Obi-Wan looked a little uncomfortable. Luke could have easily told him it was none of his business, but that didn't seem fair. Instead he said, "Under normal circumstances, yes, both would be irregular. However, we're from a slightly different order of the Jedi. Our home temple's rules are a little different due to. certain circumstances." Somehow he didn't feel bad telling Obi-Wan a half truth.  
  
The younger Jedi just nodded politely. "I see," he said simply. After a pause, he asked, "What do you think we should do about the situation with the kidnapping?"  
  
"Han is determined to go after the ship, and there'll be no stopping him there. But you're right, I'm sure Leia won't be there anymore anyway. What do you know of the man who took her, the group's leader?"  
  
"I've only heard him called by the name Uratis, and I'm sure that's a fake. I ran into him in that café more by accident than anything, actually," he reddened a little in embarrassment. "I'm afraid I don't actually know anything about him besides what I was given before the assignment- which was just his description and rumours of his intention to assassinate the senator."  
  
Luke frowned. "You don't know when the attack is planned?"  
  
Obi-Wan shook his head meekly and looked at his boots. "I had a shot at stopping him at the café, and I should have called for help as soon as I failed. My first mission and I'm going to end up getting a senator and possibly another Jedi killed." He let out a deep half sigh half moan. "Qui- Gon's going to kill me."  
  
It surprised Luke to see Obi-Wan acting this way. He was a Jedi and someone Luke had looked up to for years. But he realized that right now Obi-Wan was just a young man. Was this how he himself had acted just a few years ago? He smiled, bemused, then placed an encouraging hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "You're going to do fine," he said in his best mentor voice. Inside, he almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation, but he restrained himself; that certainly wouldn't be encouraging. Obi-Wan straightened himself up smiled gratefully at the older Jedi. 


	13. An Investigation

"There it is, come on!" Han shouted as he ran down the ramp of the Falcon. Uratis' ship was parked in the docking bay across from them. According to the tracking device, it had landed here in Alderaan's capital city at least an hour ago. It was unlikely that anyone was still in the ship, but Han refused to give up hope. The others followed behind him more slowly as he entered the docking bay. No one was there, and the ship was completely powered down. "Leia!" Han shouted into the emptiness. There was no reply.  
  
"Han," Luke said gently, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "They're gone." Han stared straight ahead, gritting his teeth, refusing to look at anyone. There was a long silence.  
  
"There have to be some clues about where they went," Indy said finally. He walked over to the ship's hatch and began searching for a way inside, running his fingers along the edges. "We just have to get inside somehow." He looked all around the smooth searching for a button to open it. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around.  
  
"It can only be opened by an eye scan," Luke said, pointing to a small screen to the door's left.  
  
"Oh," Indy said sheepishly. He turned to Obi-Wan. "Well that's no problem, right? You can just use the Force to get through, can't you?"  
  
"It's doesn't exactly work like that, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan replied. "A retina scan is much more complicated to decipher than a simple code."  
  
"Luke," Indy said, "Can your lightsabre cut through metal?"  
  
Luke shrugged. "It might take a little effort, but I think so."  
  
Indy nodded towards the ship, "Well, do that then."  
  
"There will undoubtedly be a security device on the hatch," Obi-Wan cautioned. "He'll set off an alarm and then we'll have to explain ourselves to local security, which I'm not too keen on doing."  
  
Scratching the back of his head, Indy thought it over for a moment. Then he pointed to the top of the ship, "Why not go through there?"  
  
"Just cut through?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
Indy shrugged. "Why not? It's the same material and there won't be an alarm."  
  
"I suppose that would make sense," Obi-Wan replied.  
  
"Well what are you waiting for?" Han asked, breaking out of his statue like state, now filled with exuberance. Luke and Obi-Wan looked at each other briefly, then both climbed atop the ship and began burning through the hull.  
  
With both of them working together, it was only about 10 minutes before a section of the roof melted and collapsed, leaving a hole big enough to climb through. The two Jedi clipped their lightsabres back on their belts, and crawled inside the ship. Han and Indy were not far behind them. Luke and Obi-Wan were already heading for the cockpit to check for any messages or maps that might have been left behind.  
  
"I'll check his room, you look in here," Han said to Indy as he quickly headed toward the small sleeping compartment.  
  
Indy looked around the corridor he was in. There were a few compartments along the wall, but a quick inspection showed them empty. He sighed in frustration and leaned against the other wall. The panel beneath his left foot lit up, as did the one he was leaning on. To his right, a hidden vault on the wall opened up. After a few moments of confusion, he looked inside. There were a few papers inside with some handwritten notes on them. Indy took them out and looked at them; they seemed to be written in some strange alphabet. "Guys!" He shouted, "I found something!"  
  
The others quickly rushed in. "Hey, good work Indy," Han said. Indy wasn't about to admit that the find had been an accident. "What are they?"  
  
"Some kind of coded documents."  
  
"Let me see," Obi-Wan said, taking the papers. He glanced at them, then at Indy in confusion. "They're just in normal Aurebesh," he said.  
  
"Oh, right, of course," Indy mumbled.  
  
Obi-Wan gave him another strange look, but then returned his focus to the papers. He scanned through the first one, then flipped through the others. "They're letters to Uratis detailing some sort of operation." As he read on, some of the colour drained from his features.  
  
"What?" Luke asked.  
  
Obi-Wan gave him a worried look. "It appears the conspiracy against Senator Organa may be greater than was first thought. Uratis seems to be in charge of a rather large group calling themselves The Armoury Movement. They have a hidden base here in the capital."  
  
"Does it say where?" Han asked urgently.  
  
Obi-Wan hesitated before replying, "Yes," he added quickly, "but it would be foolish to try to infiltrate it. Unlike the outpost we invaded before, this base sounds like it houses at least 50 men. We'd never be able to overpower them."  
  
Han looked angry, but Luke spoke up before he could fume against Obi-Wan again. "Are there any details about the assassination attempt or their motives?"  
  
"The details are sketchy, but I believe their aim has something to do with the weapons ban on Alderaan," Obi-Wan paused, then added, "Which doesn't apply to Jedi, of course," as if feeling the need to justify himself. "As for the assassination attempt." he flipped through several more pages. On the last page, he found what he was looking for. "Here, it says it's set for two days from now at the capital building." He frowned. "I think it's time I contacted my master and requested some backup."  
  
"First we get Leia back," Han insisted. Luke shook his head slightly, but Han ignored him.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan replied, "I'm sure Uratis took him with her to the base."  
  
"I agree, so shouldn't we go after her?" Han asked forcefully. Obi-Wan didn't have to say anything to give his answer. Han was about to go on another rant, when Luke forcefully pulled him down the hallway toward the cockpit.  
  
"Excuse us a moment," Luke said to the others. Once inside with the door closed, he turned to Han. "Obi-Wan is right."  
  
"Oh, here we go again-"  
  
"Han, listen! I know you're worried about Leia. I am too. She's my sister, remember? But if Bail is assassinated, getting Leia back won't matter. The entire course of time will be altered. The three of us may never meet, the Empire may never fall." He stopped and took a deep breath. "The base will be too heavily guarded anyway. We have to help Obi-Wan stop the assassination, then worry about Leia. She's more than capable of looking out for herself."  
  
After a moment of pause, Han smirked slightly. "Yeah, she is isn't she?" he said. He let out a sigh. "All right, I understand what you're saying."  
  
"Good." They rejoined Indy and Obi-Wan in the small hallway.  
  
"Everything alright?" Obi-Wan asked with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, we're fine," Han replied confidently. "So what are we waiting for? If we're going to put together a plan, we've gotta start now. And don't you have someone to get a hold of?" he looked to Obi-Wan, who appeared to be pleasantly surprised at the smuggler's change of demeanor.  
  
"Yes, let's get back to the Falcon and I'll contact Master Qui-Gon," Obi- Wan replied with a nod. He tucked the papers in a pouch on his belt, and climbed out of the hole in the roof, the other three following behind. 


	14. The Underground

A rough hand tapped against Leia's cheek. She groaned as the sedatives held her in the deep sleep. Finally, she snapped back to consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open groggily, and she found herself looking up at the stern face of the man who had captured her. "Hey there. A little tired?" the man said sardonically. "What, you didn't expect me to travel with you awake and give you the chance to escape, did you? Especially wouldn't risk that around a Jedi," he waved her lightsabre in front of her tauntingly. She set her jaw and refused to reply. The man sighed and clipped the hilt to his own belt, then reached into the speeder and grabbed Leia by the arm. He pulled on her, though surprisingly gently. "Come on, we're here."  
  
Leia surveyed their surroundings for the first time. She was surprised to find herself in the middle of the city, albeit in an alleyway. They were standing outside a backdoor to what appeared to be a warehouse. She wondered how secure the location really was. It was night, but there were still always people out at night. If she yelled for help...but then again, the man would probably kill her before anyone could help. Besides, she had all of her friends undoubtedly on her trail. It would be best to just wait it out and try not to anger her captor.  
  
The man held her by the arm as he led her towards the door. After scanning his handprint on a pad, the door slid open. They stepped inside to a small room where two guards stood in ready positions. Leia noted with curiosity that, rather than blasters, they were holding archaic metal swords. When they saw their leader enter, they relaxed and tucked the swords back in their sheathes. "Good evening Commander Uratis," one of them said with a nod. "We heard of the attack on the outpost. What happened?" His eyes flicked over to Leia. "Who's this?"  
  
"One of the attackers," Uratis said. He glanced at Leia appraisingly. "A Jedi," he added.  
  
"Jedi," the other guard said with surprise in his voice. He had tensed noticeably. "This is very serious," he said with a look of worry.  
  
"There's at least one more of them," Uratis replied, but smoothly added, "but they should be of no concern to us. We are going to carry on with our plan." The man fidgeted, but nodded.  
  
"Sir?" the first guard asked, "what happened to the others."  
  
Uratis' brown eyes darkened a shade. "They were all killed or captured." After a moment, he patted the young man on the shoulder reassuringly. "This is the price we pay for freedom."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Now," Uratis said to Leia, "would you like to see where the enemy sleeps?" The guards opened the door, revealing a staircase descending into the ground. So the warehouse was just a front, Leia thought. That explained the back entrance. Uratis ushered her in front of himself, perhaps sensing that she wasn't planning an escape just yet, but still wanting to keep an eye on her. As she walked down the stairs, she heard unfamiliar clanging sounds coming from ahead. They entered a large, well-lit hallway. Leia was astonished to see groups of young men, and a few young women, engaged in practice sword combat. It reminded her of the lightsabre training she'd had with Luke, yet it was different. The swords seemed to hold a more primal power to slice into someone, accented by the loud clanging sounds they made as they crashed together. The light reflected off the whirling metal surfaces, dancing about on the walls in a mythical way. Leia, transfixed by the sight, had stopped to watch the duelists, almost forgetting about her situation. A voice by her side brought her attention back to the present.  
  
"Wonderful, aren't they?" Uratis said as a smile played across his lips. "And to think, many people consider this a dead form of combat. Luckily, that includes the Alderaanian government."  
  
She glanced up at him sharply. "What do you mean by that?"  
  
"Ah, so you do speak. Very good," he grinned and paced away a few steps. "The government of Alderaan has, as I'm sure you're aware, banned the use of firearms for the last decade. That is, save for the use of their guards," he sneered angrily, turning back to face her. "And of course, their visiting Jedi friends. Tell me why it is-" he paused, obviously wanting her name.  
  
She ground her teeth stubbornly for a moment before finally replying, "Leia."  
  
"Tell me why it is, Leia, that the rulers who seem to advocate peace and disarming leave an exception for their own protectors?" It was obviously a rhetorical question. Uratis shook his head. "They've gone on too long. Senator Organa has been the biggest proponent of the disarming movement, making the regulations more and more strict each year." Leia tried not to tense at the mention of her adopted father. Uratis didn't seem to notice, though, now caught up in his own speech. "But, he neglected to think of one weapon- swords. The simplest of weapons, they can be made from any strong type of metal with relative ease. No one would notice that you were producing swords along with, say, speeder parts." He gave a sly grin and glanced briefly upward.  
  
"But you're not the only ones with weapons. Senator Organa made a wise decision when he allowed his own guards to keep their weapons." Leia replied boldly.  
  
Uratis continued to smirk, unfazed. "However the guards do not train constantly, all week, for months, do they? And why would they need to. If there are no weapons on the planet, who could possibly attack?" He noticed that Leia did not seem too worried still. "You look rather confident," he commented casually. "Perhaps you are thinking of your friends. They will make a bold attempt at thwarting our plans, no doubt." He smiled, a wickedly anxious gleam in his eye, "But we'll just have to let them in on our little surprise for the guards.  
  
* * *  
  
Obi-Wan had sent his message to Qui-Gon on Coruscant, and received a reply in a short time. The news was not good- due to preoccupations Qui-Gon wouldn't be able to arrive for another two days. That put him right at the time the assassination attempt was to play out. It was doubtful that he'd be able to help. Obi-Wan had given him the details, including references to Luke and the others (though he had carefully left the predicament with Leia out of his report for the time being). His master seemed certain that, with two Jedi and help, they would be able to succeed. Obi-Wan wasn't so sure.  
  
While the others had gone to bed for the night in the Falcon, the Padawan had taken the opportunity to meditate in the main hold. He thought some added strength and concentration would be much needed in a few days. He had remained in a still, cross-legged position for an hour before he felt someone entering the room. Deciding it best not to say anything unless addressed, Obi-Wan kept his eyes closed.  
  
It was only a matter of seconds before Han's voice broke into his thoughts, "Aren't there more comfortable positions to sleep in?"  
  
The Jedi cracked an eye open and looked up at the smuggler. "I'm meditating," he replied.  
  
Han leaned against a bulkhead. "Yeah, I know. Seen Luke do it once or twice. What's that supposed to do, help you rest?"  
  
Obi-Wan opened both his eyes now and unfolded his legs. "It's used to center oneself in the Force, to gain concentration and strength."  
  
Han sighed and raised his eyebrows a little. He was about to say something sceptical and sarcastic, but remembered that Luke had asked him to be kind to Obi-Wan. Sighing, he replied in a low tone, "Ah well, whatever helps."  
  
The young Jedi studied the older man, then looked him evenly in the eyes. "I'm sorry about your wife, Han. It's my fault, and my responsibility to bring her back to you safely."  
  
There was a solemn pause, before Han answered with a slight nod. 


	15. Sunrise

They considered reporting what they knew of the assassination attempt to the Alderaanian government, but Obi-Wan eventually decided against it. The guards would no doubt take measures to protect the senator, which would tip off Uratis. If that happened, they might never get Leia back, and the threat to Organa would still exist. And so all they could do was wait apprehensively until two days later, when the attempt was to take place. The letters they had found hinted that the attack would be sometime around midday. Not wanting to risk anything, the group got up early in the morning and began to prepare themselves for the harrowing day ahead.  
  
In order to look less conspicuous, and to hide their illegal weapons, the four men outfitted themselves with long robes over their normal clothing. Han especially was not too thrilled by having to wear the locally popular garment, but remembered that it was a necessary part of Leia's rescue. And it allowed him to keep his familiar blaster at his hip without getting tackled by local security forces. Likewise, Obi-Wan and Luke had their lightsabres clipped to their belts and hidden from view. Han had urged Indy to strap on his spare blaster, but something had compelled the archaeologist to keep his revolver handy as well. He still wasn't quite used to Han's strange gun.  
  
Just as the sun was rising, the group set out for the Capitol building.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Leia had been kept in the same small quarters for over a day. She had been provided with the necessities, but was starting to go stir-crazy. She didn't know when the assassination attempt was to take place, and that left her constantly on edge and lacking on sleep. Early on the second morning, her door swung open and she shot upright to see Uratis looming in the entry, wearing a long white cloak. "If you'll come with me, Madame," he said with a hint of mocking in his tone. As if she had a choice but to go with him. He led her by the arm through the large hallway she had seen when she first arrived. She noticed that now it was devoid of the practicing fencers she had seen before. That could only mean one thing.  
  
Uratis led her up the stairs and out into the alleyway. It was still dark outside, and a little chilly. The two guards she had seen the first day were the only ones still there. They closed and secured the door behind them, then turned and began to lead the way through twisting side streets. Leia didn't have to ask to know they were going to the capitol building. The city was structurally the same as when she lived there, only with some differences in buildings that gave it, to her, and eerie quality. It was a spectre of the place she'd grown up in. She supposed she should feel at home there, but things being what they were, she was having a hard time feeling anything but tension.  
  
As the sun was coming up, they turned the corner and Leia was presented with the familiar sight of Alderaan's capitol building. The sun warmed the colour of its high entrance arches from pale off-white to a glowing yellow stone colour. The building had no hard edges inside or out- everything was rounded off, giving it a soft, peaceful appearance. For a moment, Leia felt a little at ease. But then she spotted a few men milling around the great steps, looking casual and ordinary in their long white robes. To the casual observer, they fit in just fine. But they were wearing the same uniform as Uratis, and Leia knew they must be members of the Movement. They were all there, just waiting for Bail Organa to enter for his day's business. She shuddered inwardly at the thought.  
  
With a nod to the guards, Uratis began to lead Leia towards the entrance of the capital, the other two men following at a casual distance. Without looking down at her, he said in a low voice, "I know you won't be trying to call attention to yourself now, will you darling?" She sneered but managed to keep quiet. He took that as a yes. "Very good." They walked up the steps and into the dome shape of the entrance. There were benches all around the friendly hall, and Uratis led Leia over to one on the far side, where they would have a clear view of anyone coming inside. Looking around the room, Leia could see several men and women in white robes acting perfectly naturally, but obviously members of the Movement. It disconcerted her a bit, but she reassured herself with the thought that the others would arrive soon to stop the plan, and rescue her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Senator Organa arrived with his usual two guards by his side. It was a nice morning, so they had walked from his home to the capital. Out in the square in front of the magnificent building, Bail took some time to greet the locals who were already out and around. One of his most endearing qualities as a senator was his cordiality towards the people he represented. Now in his mid-thirties, he had already been a respected member of the Alderaanian political system for over a decade. His position in the galactic senate now gave him more influence on the local politics of Alderaan, a power he was determined to use for good.  
  
Bail nodded and said a few 'good morning's as he made his way up the steps. His two guards were at ease as usual, having little need to worry about a threat due to the weapons ban on the planet. A man and woman dressed in pressed white robes smiled at them and Bail, and they returned the pleasantry. As he finally entered the round foyer of the capital, he noticed another white robed man sitting on a bench straight across from him. That struck him as a little bit odd, but he was soon distracted by the blatant stare he was getting from the woman seated next to the robed figure. Her dark eyes were fixed on Bail, and her jaw was a little unhinged. His brow furrowed in question for a moment as he regarded the strange young women.  
  
Suddenly, the man next to her stood up and drew from beneath his robes a long metal sword. Bail's guards quickly drew their weapons and trained them on the man, but then several more such figures standing in the room drew their own swords and stood in en garde positions. The citizens in the room, save for the woman on the bench, quickly fled down the steps. No one tried to stop them. After only a moment, one of Bail's guards hit a button on his commlink to call for backup.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Leia had known she would be seeing Bail, but nothing could prepare her for the shock of it. Now here he was, much younger than she remembered him, and now with his life being threatened. His guards had blasters but looked nervous and were hopelessly outnumbered. She wondered where in the world the others were. Certainly they had found out when the attack would be, hadn't they?  
  
"That won't be of any help to the senator, I'm afraid," Uratis said, slowly approaching the guards. The other swordsmen closed in with him in unison. Leia remained on the bench.  
  
"Drop your weapons!" one guard shouted, pointing his blaster at Uratis. "Come one step closer and I'll be forced to shoot you!"  
  
For a moment, everyone in the room was frozen in a standoff. Then, a movement in the entry caught Leia's attention. She looked over to see Han and Indy with blasters drawn. To their sides, Luke and Obi-Wan called their lightsabres into their hands and flicked them into their brilliant armed mode. The guards and Bail tensed at first, but then realising two of the men were Jedi, drew deep breaths of confidence. The four men joined with Bail's guards in a circle around the senator and faced the encircling swordsmen with confidence. Han locked eyes with Leia, and threw her a reassuring smirk, which she returned with a cautious smile. She was still well aware that Uratis was standing between them.  
  
"I believe he said to drop your weapons, Uratis," Obi-Wan said in an even voice.  
  
The tall man shook his head and made a 'tsk tsk' sound with his teeth. "I do believe," he said in a mock serious tone, "that your weapons are in violation of the ban." For a moment, Uratis relished in the look of confusion that passed over the faces of the band of rescuers. Then, with his free left hand, he reached beneath his robe to a box on his belt and pressed a button on its side. After a brief pause, a whirring sound began to fill the room, radiating from each of the robed figures.  
  
First the lights went out, leaving only the natural light of the sun to see by. A second later, the green and blue glows of Luke and Obi-Wan's lightsabres wavered, then went out completely. Both looked down in alarm at the deactivated hilts, then at each other in shock. Han instinctively pulled the trigger on his blaster, but nothing happened; the power pack was dead. He looked to the guards, and saw their faces whiten. Even Obi-Wan and Luke were looking a shade paler than usual. Uratis, on the other hand, smiled and waved his troops in towards the group. Suddenly, Han had a very bad feeling about this. 


	16. The Battle

The men in white quickly advanced toward the defenseless group, when suddenly a loud noise startled them. One of the men stopped, gasping deeply. He looked down in shock to see his clean white robe quickly becoming stained by crimson blood from his stomach. In the brief silence, his sword clattered to the ground, followed soon after by the heavy thump of his body hitting the stone floor. The members of the Movement standing next to him turned their wide eyes up from his body, and found themselves staring down the barrel of a revolver.  
  
Obi-Wan and Luke looked as surprised as anyone to see Indy holding the strange weapon, but Han had seen him use it back on Earth, and shot his friend a small grin of appreciation. After a few seconds, Uratis yelled for his startled group to attack. But it was just enough time to allow Obi-Wan to shove Bail past the body of the fallen attacker and down a corridor. "Go!" he ordered, though the senator didn't need much persuasion. The Jedi grabbed the fallen man's sword as he ran past, shooting a look over his shoulder as he ran behind the Organa.  
  
Uratis grew red with anger. "Don't just stand there!" he yelled to his troops, starting after Obi-Wan and Bail. After a few steps, however, he stopped and ran back to where Leia was standing behind several swordsmen. "You're coming with me as well," he said in a low, demanding voice as he grabbed her by the arm. She tried to drag her to slow them down, but could do little to impede the strong man as he took off down the hallway.  
  
"Leia!" Han shouted, and impulsively took off after them, though he had no working weapon. That wasn't about to stop him from trying.  
  
Meanwhile, Indy had shot another advancing adversary. Luke took the opportunity to pick up the free sword off the floor. It felt different than his lightsabre- heavier and less graceful. But he wasn't about to get picky now. He felt a ripple in the Force, and quickly spun to his right just in time to block the blade of an attacker. The sound of metal on metal reverberated through the domed hall. Luke pushed with all his might, which was amplified by the Force, and sent another man skidding to the floor.  
  
After Indy had shot two more swordsmen in the legs, causing them to hobble desperately down the outside stairs to safety, it became apparent to the others that attacking him would be futile. Two of them ran out the entrance, while the other bravely tried to make a swing at Luke. The Jedi easily leapt over the attack, hitting his opponent in the face with the broad side of his sword and sending him reeling sideways. The man scrambled up and followed his companions out the entrance and down the steps.  
  
Indy opened the chamber on his revolver, then smirked at Luke. "Good thing they left when they did. I only have two shots left." But the Jedi wasn't paying attention to what he was saying. Instead, the young man was kneeling over one of the bodies, inspecting a box at his belt. "What is it?" Indy asked inquisitively.  
  
Luke unclipped the object and held it up in front of his face. "These are emitting an electromagnetic pulse. That's why none of the powered equipment is working."  
  
"So how do we stop it? Destroy all the transmitters?"  
  
Shaking his head, Luke replied, "They all have them, we'd probably have to destroy every one of them." He turned the small box over in his hands as he thought it over. There had to be a central transmitting device somewhere. If they could shut it down, they'd be able to operate lightsabres and blasters again, and their enemies would only have swords. Luke grabbed his weapon and sprang to his feet. "You know how to use a sword?" he asked Indy.  
  
"Well, kind of."  
  
"I'd get one," Luke replied gravely.  
  
Indy followed his advice, putting his gun back in its holster and taking a sword in his right hand. "What now?"  
  
Luke's eyes followed the retreating figures of the swordsmen who were now running across the lawn. He had an urge to follow them, but something stopped him. Their retreat had been made too quickly, he thought. Frowning, he reached out with the Force. When he did, he felt the presence of a dozen tense figures standing on either side of the entrance, waiting. They would most likely have any other exit covered as well. "We're trapped," he said.  
  
"What?" Indy asked. "What do you mean trapped?"  
  
"There are more of Uratis' troops outside waiting for us." Seeing Indy's questioning stare, he added, "I felt them through the Force."  
  
With a slight raise of his eyebrows Indy said, "So what do we do? Wait? Go after the others?"  
  
Luke shook his head. "We've got to get out of here, find the transmitter for the electromagnetic pulse and shut it down. Then the local guards can help us. Otherwise it won't matter if the others get away from Uratis, we'll all be outnumbered when they decide to attack."  
  
Slowly, Indy nodded. "So how do you propose we get out of here and find this transmitter thing?"  
  
Glancing down the various corridors branching off the hall they were in, Luke saw that one of them was a stairwell leading upwards. "That way," he said, pointing. "We can make our way to the roof."  
  
"The roof." Indy gave him a sceptical look. "How is that going to improve our situation, exactly?"  
  
"This is a capitol building. They probably have a speeder up there for emergency use."  
  
"Right, I always forget about the escape speeders," Indy rejoined wryly.  
  
"Come on," Luke said as he hurried up the stairwell.  
  
After running for some time, Obi-Wan realised they were no longer being followed. He slowed his pace some until he came to a full stop. They had come to the floor of the assembly room. It was eerily empty, having been evacuated along with the rest of the building when the attack started. The Jedi's eyes flicked around the room nervously, noting the many entrances to the room. Bail looked at him questioningly. "Have we lost him?"  
  
The Jedi looked down the hallway from which they'd just come. Uratis was nowhere to be seen, and there was not a sound not be heard. A frown darkened Obi-Wan's features. "Something's not right," he said gravely.  
  
"Senator!" a voice boomed mockingly. Obi-Wan whirled to his right to the source of the voice, sword ready in his hands. Uratis was standing at the top of one an aisle between the rows of seats. He had Leia in front of him, an arm wrapped around her shoulder, his sword at her throat. "I would drop your weapon, Jedi, unless you don't care if your friend here dies." His eyes met Leia's, which were wide but stoic. He turned back to Organa behind him. "And don't think I'm going to let the senator escape either. Both of you to the middle of the room."  
  
Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment, thinking through the possibilities. His mission was to protect the senator, but he couldn't let Leia be killed either. After all, it was his fault that she was involved in the first place. His shoulders dropped a little, and he nodded to the senator to follow him as he made his way to the center of the floor.  
  
"Drop your sword," Uratis commanded, slowly making his way down the steps, still holding Leia tightly. Obi-Wan did as he was told. "And kick it this way." The sound of metal skidding across the stone echoed in the stillness. "Now, on your knees- no, your stomach. Hands behind your head." Obi-Wan gritted his teeth as he lowered himself to the cold stone. "Look at this," Uratis said in malicious satisfaction, locking his gaze with Bail's, "no weapons, and now you're powerless to fight back. Perhaps now you know how your people feel, Senator. Only I'm sure you're not going to change your views. No, you politicians are too proud to realise the people want something different. Well, allow me to send a message about what the people want." He sneered, and his eyes flicked down to Obi-Wan. "Though I think first I'll send a message to the Jedi about interfering." He ran the flat edge of the blade slowly across Obi-Wan's cheek, tauntingly. The young man remained quiet and unmoving. Uratis brought his sword up to the nape of Obi- Wan's neck, turning it on edge. He raised the blade, ready to strike.  
  
"Uratis!" a voice shouted from behind him. His head snapped around to see Han standing in the entrance he had come through minutes before. Uratis' attention was only distracted for a moment, but it was all Obi-Wan needed. In a flash, the Jedi reached out and grabbed one of Uratis' legs. With a swift yank, he pulled the man off balance, sending him stumbling backward. He lost his grip on Leia, but managed to hold onto his sword. Obi-Wan called his own weapon to him with the Force, and in a flash he stood poised, facing his opponent with sword in hand. 


	17. Showdowns

Luke made his way up the last few steps to the roof, with Indy following behind him, somewhat exasperated. "Ready?" Luke asked, pausing before the door. Not about to show how tired he was, Indy nodded and held his sword up in his right hand. Luke held tightly to his own weapon, and with his free hand, threw open the door.  
  
At the far side of the roof, a red speeder was parked. It was only 50 years away, but in between them and their means of escape stood four members of the Movement. They reacted quickly to the sound of the door opening, spinning to face their opponents. Three of them were sturdy young men, the fourth a stout young women. Standing with their swords ready to attack, however, they became opponents to be taken very seriously. "Stop! Drop your weapons!" one of the men yelled.  
  
Luke always tried not to kill if he could. Turning to Indy, he said, "Just try to disarm them if you can. We don't want unnecessary deaths."  
  
Indy really didn't care either way, as long as the enemy was disposed of. But he saw the serious look on the Jedi's face, and nodded his agreement. "Is that what we're trying to get to?" he said with a nod towards the speeder behind their opponents.  
  
"Yes. We can't let them get away with it, either." He paused only a moment before steadily saying, "All right, let's go." He and Indy began to run at their adversaries, who had remained stationary but obviously ready to fight.  
  
In a move that surprised his opponents, Luke stopped short of attack range and extended a hand palm-outward towards them. All four were knocked off- balance by the power of the Force hitting them, and stumbled backwards. In a fantastic leap, Luke quickly jumped to the closest one and pinned his right arm to the ground. The young man still held onto his sword, but was unable to reach Luke with it. Before the Jedi could disable the man, however, he sensed a blade slashing at his right side, and he spun to block it just in time. With a little surprise, he noted that his attacker was the young woman, who had sprung to her feet remarkably quickly. She swung expertly at his head, forcing him to take a step back and release his captive. He was too busy focusing on his new adversary.  
  
Indy wasted no time in advancing upon the nearest fallen fighter. Forgoing the sword, he knocked the man unconscious with a single punch. Just in case he should happen to wake up, however, Indy tossed the man's sword over the edge of the roof. The other man near him scrambled quickly to his feet and lunged at Indy, who was barely able to deflect the barrage of enraged blows. Being only a novice at sword fighting, the archaeologist wasn't able to do much more than back away from his opponent's attacks. He realised that he was slowly backing towards the edge of the roof. His opponent perceived the worry on Indy's face, and allowed himself a momentary smirk of triumph as he raised his sword in the air. The satisfaction was short- lived. Indy drew his revolver quickly and shot the man in the leg. With a scream, he dropped his sword and grabbed his injured leg.  
  
The sound of the gunshot distracted Luke's opponent briefly. It was enough to allow him a chance to flip over her head, a move she was obviously not expecting. Before she could reorient herself, the Jedi already had his sword at her neck. They locked eyes, and she scowled angrily. "Drop the sword," he said firmly but not harshly. Still, the young woman stayed frozen in place with her weapon gripped tightly in her right hand.  
  
The sound of a gun cocking cracked the silence. "Please." Indy added in a slightly smug tone. With an angry sigh, she let the sword clatter to the rooftop, focusing her eyes on the blade Luke still held at her throat.  
  
Convinced they had the woman subdued, Luke slowly lowered his sword and nodded to Indy to put away his revolver. "Where is the transmitter located?" he asked gently.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied stubbornly.  
  
"We know there's an electromagnetic pulse, just tell us where the transmitter for it is located," Luke continued a little more firmly.  
  
After a moment, she said, "It's in the basement of our headquarters."  
  
"Where's that?" Indy said, stepping forward.  
  
She spat out an address, which Luke quickly committed to memory. "All right, let's go, Indy." The two men hurried over to the parked speeder and jumped in, with Luke in the driver's seat. He pushed the ignition button, but nothing happened. He frowned and tried it again, but still none of the lights came on.  
  
The woman behind them began to laugh, and Indy turned to Luke with a frown. "Why isn't it working?"  
  
Luke let out a sigh. "Because it has no power."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Han immediately rushed over to pull Leia out of the way of any danger. They gathered with Bail at the edge of the room. In it's center, Uratis and Obi- Wan exploded towards each other simultaneously, the blades of their swords meeting with a loud sound that echoed through the assembly hall.  
  
The young Jedi tried to relax and let the Force flow through him, but found himself overcome with adrenaline instead. Qui-Gon had always said he had a problem focusing on the moment, and he knew it was true. But, faced with such a formidable opponent in a real life-threatening situation, Obi-Wan had trouble keeping himself centered. Instead he began striking at his opponent in a frenzy. But Uratis was extremely well trained, and countered everyone of Obi-Wan's attacks with a move of his own, forcing the Jedi to push himself further. He aimed a long series of blows at alternating shoulders of his opponent, but to his dismay, each one was blocked. In fact, he realised too late, Uratis was intentionally letting Obi-Wan drive him backwards.  
  
Uratis swung his sword in a full arc in front of himself that was not so much aimed at hitting his opponent as it was forcing him to take a step backwards. The second of space between them allowed Uratis enough time to jump up on one of the benches now right behind him and leap off of it into the air. Obi-Wan blocked his attack, but the extra momentum it gave the already powerful strike was enough to unbalance the Jedi. All his weight was pushed back on his right foot, and he was left half-crouching. With his weaker left arm forward, he was barely able to hold off the next blow, which came towards his head. The two blades were locked. Uratis pushed down with all his weight, a smirk crossing his features. He was taller and stronger than Obi-Wan, and forced the Jedi down on his right knee. Then, with a flick of his wrist, Uratis sent Obi-Wan's sword skidding across the floor.  
  
Bail gave Han a quick worried look, and Leia bit her lip. But there was nothing any of them could do to help Obi-Wan. Han clenched his fists in frustration. He hated feeling helpless.  
  
Only his Force-enhanced reflexes allowed Obi-Wan to roll backwards and out of the way of the next downward strike Uratis aimed at him. He sprung to his feet and desperately called the sword back to himself. Just as he was doing so, however, the lights in the room came on, amplifying the natural lighting streaming in via the skylights in the room. It took Obi-Wan a second to realise what this meant- the power was back on. He didn't know how, but he didn't really care either. He quickly dropped the cumbersome sword and activated his lightsabre. In a flash he had cut Uratis' sword in half and had the blade of his lightsabre pointing threateningly at his chest.  
  
Uratis paled a shade and stood still for a moment. Then suddenly, he held an activated lightsabre in his own hand. In the moment of Obi-Wan's shock, he knocked the glowing blue blade away from his chest. "Not as easy when the playing fields are even, is it Jedi?" he taunted. "I took the liberty of borrowing this from your friend." He nodded towards Leia, who gave him a cold stare.  
  
Obi-Wan ignored the taunting. He blocked out everything and took a deep, cleansing breath, letting the Force flow through him. It seemed much easier to concentrate with his own familiar lightsabre in hand than with the awkward sword. Now he definitely had the upper hand, but he couldn't let his confidence lull him into a false sense of security. Uratis was still a dangerous opponent. The Jedi did not advance on his opponent, but waited for him to make the first move. When he did, Obi-Wan blocked it easily, and the same with the next, and the next. As difficult as it was for him, he had to try not to attack impetuously. It had obviously not done him much good so far. He had to be patient, wait for Uratis to leave an opening or tire. But the man was driven by rage and the cause he believed in, both very powerful. He seemed unrelenting, and Obi-Wan felt as though the battle might never end.  
  
That thought had just crossed Obi-Wan's mind when the sound of blaster fire rang out, and Uratis screamed in pain and loosened his grip on this lightsabre hilt. Without hesitation, Obi-Wan struck a well-aimed blow to the hilt, cutting off part of the top and effectively destroying it. Uratis stood doubled over, grasping the blaster wound on his leg. When Obi-Wan took another step toward him, however, he snapped up with a furious yell of pain and rage. He slashed at Obi-Wan with a knife he had kept tucked away in his boot, and the young Jedi had to spin to the side to keep it from sinking into his abdomen. Instead, it merely grazed his right side. Before Uratis could make another desperate attack, however, a series of blue rings hit him. The stun bolt knocked him over, finally motionless and unconscious.  
  
With a heavy sigh of relief and exasperation, Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsabre and clipped it back on his belt. Just to be safe, he kicked the knife out of Uratis' limp hand as well. Then he turned his attention to Han, who was still holding his blaster comfortably in his hand. "Thank you," Obi-Wan said gratefully. "I was beginning to doubt my abilities there."  
  
Han's eyebrows arched slowly as he realised Kenobi had shown humility. Maybe Leia was right, and he had been too harsh on the young man. "Hey, you looked like you were doing just fine. In fact that was pretty impressive fighting." Leia smiled up at Han appreciatively, and he just rolled his eyes slightly and looked away.  
  
Obi-Wan bent down and gathered up the two broken halves of Leia's lightsabre. He handed them to Leia with a somewhat sheepish look on his face. "I'm sorry about that, Leia. I should have been more careful. I think I got caught up in the moment."  
  
"It's fine Obi-Wan," she replied with a smile. "I can always build a new one. The important thing is that we're all right." She turned to Bail. "Especially Senator Organa."  
  
Bail bowed his head slightly. "Truly, I am infinitely grateful to you Jedi for your assistance," he turned to Han, "and to you as well, Sir."  
  
Han had never been good at accepting honest praise. And the realisation that he was now receiving it from Leia's father, whom he had never met, made him more uncomfortable with it. He tried to think of something graceful to say, but that was never his strong point. Instead he settled on a shrug and a low, "No problem."  
  
Obi-Wan addressed Han. "If you'll stay here with Uratis, I'll go out and see if I can get the local guards to come arrest him. With the power back on, they should be in control very soon. I should also find out what's become of Luke and Indy." Han nodded his agreement, and the Jedi began to jog back to the main entrance. 


	18. To the Past

Luke and Indy raced down the long staircase, frantic to find another way to find the generator. Halfway down, however, the lights suddenly came back on. The two paused for a moment and exchanged a glance, then continued down the stairwell, now more curious than frantic. They reached the main hall just in time to see Obi-Wan, looking rather exhausted, entering from another hallway.  
  
"Did you turn the power back on?" Indy asked.  
  
Obi-Wan frowned. "I thought you had."  
  
Luke shook his head. "Did you capture Uratis? Is Leia alright?"  
  
"Yes, they're with Han and Senator Organa back in the assembly hall. I came to find a guard to take Uratis into captivity." Obi-Wan and the others all looked out the entrance to see dozens of local guards with blasters apprehending the scattering members of the Movement. He waved to a few of the closest ones, who hurried up the steps towards him. "The leader is in the assembly hall, unconscious. The Senator is there as well, but he's fine." They nodded in understanding and rushed off.  
  
"So if none of us got to the power thing," Indy asked, "who did?"  
  
Before anyone could make a guess, a voice from the entrance said, "I did." Luke and Indy turned to look at the man they hadn't even heard coming up the steps. He was tall and lean, though strong, with long hair and a wise but gentle face. The clothing he wore gave him away immediately as a Jedi. He walked with an even stride over to the group, giving Obi-Wan a cursory glance before directing his attention to Luke. "You must be Master Rendar," he said. It took Luke a moment to realise that was him, then he nodded. "I am Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His eyes moved to focus on Obi-Wan, who inclined his head respectfully to his Master, but said nothing. "I'm sorry that my Padawan dragged you into his affairs."  
  
Luke noticed Obi-Wan redden slightly, and once again felt guilty that Kenobi's embarrassment was on his behalf. "Really, it wasn't a problem. He needed our assistance and my duty was clear."  
  
Qui-Gon regarded his Padawan coolly for a moment. "It would have been wise to ask for help sooner, Obi-Wan," he reprimanded.  
  
"Yes, Master," the young man replied quietly.  
  
After a moment, a small smile tugged at the corner of the older man's mouth. "Then again, I might have been inclined to take a similar course myself." Obi-Wan's eyes lifted to meet the sparkling eyes of his master. "And after all, you accomplished your mission." The two exchanged an understanding smile.  
  
Just then, there was a sound of a dozen feet marching down one of the hallways. The guards had restrained Uratis, who was conscious but looked rather groggy. At the head of the group, Senator Organa motioned silently for the prisoner to be taken away, and the guards complied. The politician then turned to face Qui-Gon, "Your apprentice and his friends have been invaluable to me. How can I ever repay you?"  
  
"Well," Han said in a low voice. Leia shot him a glance, and he gave her an 'I was only kidding!' look. She rolled her eyes slightly.  
  
"Your safety is our reward," Qui-Gon replied.  
  
Bail nodded graciously. "Thank you all so very much," he said looking over the faces of the group. His gaze settled on Leia, and again his eyes lingered on her face. She was smiling at him, but he notices her eyes looked oddly glassy. "Thank you," he said again, lingering for a moment before he turned to follow the departed guards and their captive.  
  
To Luke, Qui-Gon said, "I don't believe I've been introduced to your friends."  
  
"Oh, of course. Qui-Gon Jinn, this is my sister and Padawan Leia, her husband Han, and his brother Indy." Each of them nodded to him, though Han did so a little more hesitantly than the others.  
  
The Jedi Master paused as if he were contemplating saying one thing, but instead he smiled and said, "It's always a pleasure to have strong adversaries on ones side. Thank you all. However, I regret that we won't be able to stay here much longer. We have business back on Coruscant."  
  
"We have somewhere to get back to as well," Luke said with a sideways glance at Indy.  
  
"In that case, we'll let you be on your way." Qui-Gon notices Obi-Wan shift his weight almost imperceptivity. He knew the young man would never say anything to contradict him, especially in the presence of another Jedi, but it was clear what his Padawan wanted. With a glance down at the young man, he added, "Obi-Wan can accompany you back to your ship if you like."  
  
Luke smiled genuinely. "Of course."  
  
Qui-Gon bowed, a gesture which Luke returned. Then the older man turned and gracefully withdrew down the stairs.  
  
* * * * *  
  
The group arrived at the hangar as the sun was setting. Han let out a sigh of relief upon seeing the Falcon, and walked up to the hatch, opening it then turning back to the group. "Well, I don't know about all of you, but I'm ready to get home so I can relax, have a drink." he trailed off as he saw the tacit reprimand in his wife's eyes. Biting back a sigh, he sauntered over to the group and extended his hand to Obi-Wan. "It's been nice getting to know you," he said, if somewhat forcedly.  
  
The young Jedi shook the spacer's hand. "May the Force be with you, Han," he said sincerely.  
  
Han let out an exasperated sigh, "I knew you were going to say that!" After a beat, he smirked amiably at the Jedi, who smiled back.  
  
"Obi-Wan," Indy said as he approached the young man. "It's been great to meet you. Now I know who to call if I ever need help in a fight."  
  
"I believe I owe you for saving me."  
  
"If you're ever in my neighborhood, you can buy me a drink," Indy replied with a hint of irony sneaking into his tone. Not only did Kenobi not know where he lived, it wouldn't do much good anyway. In fact, Indy wasn't sure he would even be able to get back to his own planet. He reminded himself that this wasn't over yet, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he shook Obi-Wan's hand to wish him farewell.  
  
"Leia," Obi-Wan said, "I'm very sorry for having dragged you into this. And then destroying your lightsabre." He grimaced slightly with compunctions.  
  
Smiling warmly, Leia, "Please, as I said, it's fine. I'm just glad we were able to aide in some way."  
  
"Indeed you were." Obi-Wan said. His eyes flicked to Luke briefly, but both hesitated.  
  
Leia tapped Han on the arm and motioned slightly. Taking a hint, Han said, "I should go get her ready, huh?" He and Leia began to walk up the ramp to the Falcon, and Indy followed closely behind them.  
  
Out of respect, Obi-Wan waited for Luke to say something first. But the Jedi was at a loss for words. With all that had happened, he supposed he had sometimes forgotten who Obi-Wan really was. Standing in the hangar outside the Falcon, he couldn't help but recall the scene that had haunted him for so long, seeing Vader kill Kenobi. And even though he knew how everything had ended up, how it had needed to end up, he had never really gotten over the pain of losing Ben. He had never imagined he would see him like this. It seemed so strange to think that the man standing in front of him, who right now was younger than him, was going to grow into the man who had been his mentor, who had introduced him to the Force and the ways of the Jedi. It was strange to think of, but at the same time, not difficult to believe. He had seen so many wonderful qualities already in the young man, and couldn't express how grateful he was to have known him in this way. Of course, there was no way he could express that to Obi-Wan. Instead, he suddenly threw his arms around the young man in a hug.  
  
When they stepped back, Obi-Wan thought he felt a strange ripple in the Force, and his brow furrowed slightly in curiosity. Shaking the feeling, he began to say, "Again, thank you so mu-"  
  
Luke cut him off with a cursory wave of his hand, and the two exchanged a look of understanding. "You're going to be a great Jedi, Obi-Wan," he said sincerely, managing to keep out the hint of sadness that was creeping into his thoughts. If Kenobi really knew what his life was going to be like, he might chose another path. Then Luke shook the thought away. That wasn't true, and that was at the root of why he admired the man so much.  
  
With a humble nod, Obi-Wan replied, "I can only hope to achieve close to what you have."  
  
Luke couldn't help but smirk briefly at the irony of the situation. Then his face grew serious, and he softly said, "Goodbye Obi-Wan."  
  
"Farewell Luke," he replied genuinely. "May the Force be with you."  
  
"May the Force be with you," Luke replied quietly, forcing himself to turn and re-enter the Falcon, and watching Obi-Wan disappear out of the hangar's exit.  
  
* * * * * Obi-Wan entered the transport to see Qui-Gon already seated and ready for takeoff. He took a seat next to his master, who said nothing for a while. As they lifted off into the sky, the older Jedi looked out the window as he said, "When you contacted me, I spoke with Master Yoda about your friend Master Rendar."  
  
"I thought it odd that I hadn't heard of him before," Obi-Wan mused. "That in addition to some of his practices which I found a bit odd; his sister being his Padawan and her being married." He hesitated before adding. "But even more strange to me was that there seemed to be a sort of ripple in the Force around him."  
  
Qui-Gon turned his head towards his padawan and scratched his chin. "I didn't feel it. Curious." After a pause he said. "There was no record of him in the Jedi Archives."  
  
"None at all?" Obi-Wan looked shocked for a moment. Then he frowned in contemplation. "Master, what do you think it means?"  
  
"Patience, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, and Obi-Wan could tell he was switching into his lecturing mode. "That is either the past or the future, neither of which you can control. You must learn to focus on the present."  
  
That always seemed to be his problem, Obi-Wan thought. He exhaled and tried to center himself, pushing his wonderings about Luke out of his mind. "Of course, Master," he said, "the present." 


	19. Parting

The Falcon began to lift off as Luke carefully made his way back to the cockpit where the others were seated. "Get yourself strapped in kid," Han said without glancing up from the controls. Luke silently took a seat and exchanged a sorrowful glance with Leia. She gave him a small empathetic smile.  
  
"So Han," Indy said after clearing his throat, "You've figured out a way to fly us back to Earth?"  
  
The pilot glanced briefly at his friend, then refocused on the controls as he muttered, "Well, not exactly."  
  
Indy looked skeptically at Leia, whose own expression indicated she was wondering the same thing he was. "So what exactly is your plan?"  
  
"Well, uh," Han coughed a little. There was a pause. "I'm working on it. Right now I'm just gonna get us off the planet if you don't mind." Below them, Alderaan's features were growing smaller and more indistinct. Before long, they were out of the atmosphere, and the planet quickly became a bright blue orb below them. Leia's breath caught in her chest as she stared at it. Out of the corner of his eye, Han saw her, and the hard look on his face softened.  
  
"It's just as I remember it," Leia said quietly. No one said anything for a few minutes, allowing her time to take in the planet one last time. Her face grew red, but she didn't cry. After a while she let out a sigh, drew in a deep breath, and composed herself. "Let's go," she said solidly.  
  
Han nodded then stopped. "Um," he said uncomfortably, "I don't really know how we're going to get back."  
  
"So I take it," Indy began slowly. "You don't really know much about travelling through black holes, even with all your technology." Han grimaced slightly and shook his head. Indy nodded and leaned back in his seat. "So we could be stuck here?"  
  
Shaking her head, Leia said, "We can't stay here. We've already seen the potential for changing the course of events." She exchanged grim looks with Han and Indy.  
  
Finally, Luke spoke up in a confident voice. "No we haven't." The others looked at him. "We couldn't change the past even if we wanted to. Don't you see, whatever we've done on this trip already happened in our past. So whatever we've done already had its effects, we just didn't know it. Maybe without us being here, Bail would have been killed, or Obi-Wan."  
  
Han looked a little confused, but Leia seemed to understand what Luke was saying. "You're right. Whatever decisions we make have already been made. The only people it effects now are us."  
  
"Could we please be less philosophical," Han interjected. Luke looked like he was about to explain it in other terms, but he was interrupted.  
  
"Look," Indy said, "I understand what you're saying, but that doesn't change the fact that I'd like to get back to Earth. Any ideas on how to do that would be great."  
  
"Well, we could try going back through the black hole and just taking our chances," Han said with a slight shrug.  
  
"Then we'd have to take our chances getting back to our own galaxy," Leia pointed out. "That's a lot of chances to take."  
  
A silence fell over the group. It seemed like they were out of options and would be stuck. Luke tried to think of a solution. There had to be something he could do. He thought of all they would be leaving behind if they never got back to their own places. No one would know what had happened to them. They had to get back. But how? Then he remembered a voice echoing softly in his mind- "Let go Luke." He drew in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and reached out with the Force. After a moment, a sudden blur of images flashed through his head. His eyes snapped open, and he asked Han, "Do you have an escape pod?"  
  
"Yeah," the pilot said slowly. "Why?"  
  
Luke's eyes settled on Indy. "I have an idea."  
  
******  
  
"So I've programmed the coordinates into the guidance system. It will fly itself and land itself," Han said as he showed Indy the navicomputer on the escape pod. Indy was back in his own clothing and holding his fedora in one hand. The two exited the small pod and stood up in the Falcon's hallway.  
  
"And you're sure this will work? Your part, I mean," Indy said to Luke. Without faltering or a hint of uncertainty, the young Jedi nodded. Indy drew a deep breath, "All right, I've seen enough of you Jedi to trust you on this sort of thing." He paused, then added, "And you can do the same thing for the Falcon? Get yourselves back?" Luke gave another nod.  
  
An odd silence fell over the group as they stood around as if waiting for a signal to go. No one looked each other in the eyes until Leia finally addressed Indy in a solemn tone, "Indy, you've been a great friend." The sorrow on her face was reflected in her voice. "I'll never forget you."  
  
"Even if you wanted to you couldn't," Indy replied with a lopsided grin. "You still have to look at Han all the time, don't you?" Leia smiled back. Indy turned his attention to Luke. "Kid, you are something else. I still don't understand all that Jedi stuff but there area lot of things I don't understand."  
  
Luke smiled, "I think you understand more than you think."  
  
"Yeah, well until it gets me one of those laser swords it's not any good," Indy said, causing Han to smirk and nod in agreement. The two locked eyes a moment of unspoken camaraderie passed between them. But both men's faces fell into seriousness after a few seconds. Both paused for a while, then the two embraced without a word. When they separated, Indy began to back towards the escape pod. "Han," he said as a simple address with a nod.  
  
Returning the gesture, Han replied respectfully, "Indy." There was nothing to be said.  
  
Indy climbed inside the pod, then paused before adding. "It's Henry, by the way."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My real name is Henry. Just thought you'd like to know," Indy said as he put on his fedora.  
  
"What's with Indy then?"  
  
Jones shrugged. "A nickname. Actually, it was my dog's name originally."  
  
A confused look passed Han's face. "What's a dog?" he asked, getting confused looks from Luke and Leia as well.  
  
Indy smiled and laughed. "Never mind. You take care of yourselves."  
  
"Same goes for yourself," Han replied. "I know I'm not the only one of us who's constantly getting into trouble." The two exchanged identical smirks, then the door the escape pod closed. Han turned to see Luke entering some information into the panel. Then he hit a button, and with a hiss, the pod detached itself from the Falcon.  
  
Luke closed his eyes and did his best to calm himself and focus on the Force flowing through him, just as he had been taught by Obi-Wan and Yoda. Han and Leia remained quiet to give him the concentration he needed. It wasn't long before the images he had seen before recalled themselves to his mind. Only this time he got the sense that they were happening in the present. He saw the escape pod accelerating towards the black hole and entering into a maze of whirling tunnels. He could feel the Force guiding Indy towards the right one, the one that would take the pod back to Earth. The small craft shot out at a tremendous speed, hurtling towards a blue- green planet. It caught the pod in it's gravitational field, and the navicomputer kicked in. Luke opened his eyes slowly.  
  
"So?" Han asked apprehensively. "Did it work?"  
  
Luke smiled. "It worked."  
  
Han let out a shout of joy and slapped his brother-in-law on the shoulder. "I knew you'd pull through junior."  
  
"I thought the Force was just useful for fighting with lightsabres?" Luke replied with a wry grin. The pilot smiled and rolled his eyes slightly.  
  
"I don't know about you two," Leia said, "But I'm ready to get home myself." She was met with nods of approval, and the group moved to the cockpit, taking their seats once more.  
  
Han piloted them near to the black hole, starring at it in apprehension. "Think you can work your magic one more time, kid?" Han asked Luke with a mischievous grin.  
  
"Of course," Luke replied with a smile. "I learned from the best." 


	20. Epilogue

Earth quickly grew larger and larger in the view port of the tiny pod. Indy gripped the edge of his seat tightly, wondering how the people who invented these strange things ever got up the nerve to test them out. He had to admire their technology, though, as the pod entered the atmosphere and automatically began heading towards the programmed destination. Its flight ability was limited compared to most craft, but Indy would have never noticed. His mood changed from tension to awe as he took in the breathtaking sight of the vast expanses of land below him becoming more defined. Soon he could see the city of Princeton on the horizon, and the landscape beneath him grew more distinct as it rushed up at him. For a moment, he wondered if the computer had been programmed to find an open area to land in, but the thought was cut short by the pod suddenly smashing through several tree braches. It spun around a few times, and Indy gripped his seat, glad to be strapped in. Finally, everything came to a stop. Indy found himself lying on his back. He unbuckled himself and sat upright. The exit hatch was now above him, so he reached up and pushed the button to open it. The familiar sunlight that blinded him only slightly annoyed the archaeologist. He was more perturbed about the ache he now had in his back. "I hate landings," he grumbled to himself as he picked up his fedora, which had fallen off. Placing it firmly on his head, he climbed out of the pod and jumped down to the grass. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, but it looked like someplace in New Jersey. If he kept walking in one direction, he'd be able to figure it out eventually. Straightening his leather jacket out, Indy began the long walk home. 


	21. The Making of 'Earth1939'

The Making of 'Earth1939'  
  
I started writing this story on June 26th of 2001. Two years and two months later, September 26th of 2003, it's finally finished. I didn't know if it would ever happen. It's so odd because I can barely even remember when I began the story. I do remember that it seemed like, as I was getting finished writing 'Earth1937', that it was open to sequel possibilities. So I intentionally wrote the ending that way. But then it came time to write the actual sequel and after a few chapters, I got stuck. I knew that this story had to distinguish itself from its predecessor, but how was I going to do that? Well, the obvious was to bring Indy to the GFFA this time. But what then? I didn't feel it would be right to just have him wandering around going 'woah, that's cool!' about every bit of technology he came across. So what was I to do.  
  
Then it hit me: time travel! Sure, why not! The whole premise is Black Holes so it works in a cliché sci-fi way. So I got this brilliant idea for how they were going to be sent back in time in the GFFA when they went back. They could exit the Black Hole to find The Death Star looming in front of them. You can guess what comes next: they have to try to get out of there without their alter-egos from that time period catching on. Because that would be a Back to the Future-like rip in the Space-Time continuum. Who knows, we could have another alternate 1985!  
  
It wasn't long before I decided that idea wasn't going to work. It would just be a reiteration of the 'Han and Indy are a lot alike' idea from '1937', only in triplicate. So what would be an interesting setting from the Star Wars past. and I just decided that no place would be better for Alderaan. But what were they doing there that was so vital? Of course it had to be something to do with Bail. The final piece of the story, though, I'll admit is definitely my favourite. I figured, hey, I'm writing this story, I can put young Obi-Wan in it too if I want to! My particular favourite aspect of this being the chance it gave for me to write the far too sparse Obi-Wan/Han hatred scenes a la ANH.  
  
So here I have it- my opportunity to take my dream of combining Star Wars and Indiana Jones and take it one step further. Almost everything I love about Star Wars is in this story, and almost everything I love about Indy's character as well. It turned out being the most fun thing I've ever written. Unlike '1937', I was able to take liberties with things like history because there's not a real definitely history of Alderaan set up in the GFFA. So this was my chance to get a bunch of characters I love and give them a fun story. At least I hope it was fun. I tried to give each of them an important function in the story that was specific to their character's strengths and weaknesses. But most of all, I wanted to write something that people would enjoy. So I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have. It's been a long road and I'm a little stunned that it's actually ending. Believe me; I was very sad writing those last few chapters. Yet I hope that everyone gets a sense of closure on the story from it, and mostly that you have fun reading it. Thanks for being loyal readers all these years. And finally, thank you to Greg for being the best muse ever. But I'm still not decapitating Obi-Wan, sorry. 


End file.
